European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1963, Darmstadt, Hesse 1 Wagner never by Hugh a. Mulligan a staff writer composer Richard Wagner put just v4 about everything into his turbulent Pica everything alas except laughs. But mime ump human nature twin what it la and Prim Donnas being More Frisky than the Public might suspect eve that improbable ingredient is supplied in heroic wagnerian proportions. The Lovely Brunnhilde daughter of the god Wotan and eldest of the Valkyrie Maidens sloops beneath her shield on great Rock in the Forest surrounded by a ring of magic fire. Cast under a spell for disobeying her father the slumbering Beauty he waited years perhaps decades fora hero of proper stature to come and Waken her with a last that hero approaches. It la Siegfried. A the storm Dies and the mists lift fro the flaming Mountain and the surging fire music subsides to a Lovely sleep Motif whispering in the strings the Brave War rior Falls at the feet of his beloved. Gently he removes her helmet gripped with Emo Tion he lifts the great shield. Now he leans Forward for the kiss. Suddenly his head snaps Back in a Mostun wagnerian double take. Affixed to the Maiden s dress is a familiar sign usually found on hotel door knobs do not Dis Nilsson the super Soprano with the Superb sense of humor has been Atit again. That night in Stockholm recall Madam Nilsson hoho Long like a Valkyrie Warrior launching her Battle cry Sieg Fried broke Opao badly he almost could t go on singing. Fortunately he manage finally to get grip on the fact that the swedish Palma Donna can laugh at her prank while still regard Lac it As fortunate that the Tenor ind Mua us delicate line that a practical joker must tread in grand operas the audience has come to see indeed paid handsomely to Aee a serious musical drama of gnat Genius performed by world famous Talent. Only the boredom that comes with playing the name role Over Andover and play Ash sense of the preposterous would tempt a Groat artist to trifle with such majesties. The trick i to be sure the joke Falls just Short of breaking up the performance or. Better still a particularly Stuffy performer. The same applies to All opera pranks. Madame Nilsson has delicious memories of a stunt played on a Boss baritone of great dignity who steadfastly refused to memorise anything he did t have to. In Beethoven s to avoided learning Long recitative which the stage directions called for him to read from a scroll. Theist of the message was that the minister would arrive the next Day. Backstage gremlins somehow manage to change the wording on the scroll. Be fore a knew it the baritone found him self singing with great gusto the minis Ter. He is coming. On the Morrow. By air plane. Acclaimed As the greatest wagnerian Soprano of our age Nilsson has a booming boisterous laugh. If she Ever broke up onstage the results would be epic. One it nearly happened. Night after night As Donna Anna in Mozart a Dongiovanni she had been carrying on a running first act gag with the Basso play ing Don Pedro her father. In the scene where Don Pedro is slain by Don Giovanni and she Falls sobbing on his bosom he had been reaching around behind the Couch to tickle her leg. In retaliation she had been tugging at the hair on his cheat. Unseen by the audience the High Jinks increased each performance until finally the dead Don Pedro gave the grieving Donna Anna a Good Pinch. With that sniffs Madame Nilsson. Reached into his open shirt and gave a real Good tug. You can imagine my dismay when i found myself waving aloft on enormous handful of hair. The old Fox Hud borrowed a wig from the property Man and inserted it in his shirt front not All of the things that bring serious opera to the Brink of opera Buffo Are last Spring at Cement Garden when Nilsson starred in tristan and Isolde and a designer decided at the last minute that Isolde s dress should be a Lusher Shade of Green. As i stepped on stage for my first act aria relates the Soprano. I had the Odd sensation that my hands were first i thought it might be the lights but when i embraced tristan he turned Green. By the time the curtain came Down. I was Green All Over and nearly reduce to tears. That was Only the beginning. I changed dresses for the second act but in the love duets which i Sang in tristan s tender arms i began picking up that Green that had passed to his costume. For the next several performance we kept picking it up from the designer in trying to touch up my dress had used water probably because they Are produced it and performed on a Grandola scale wagnerian operas Are particularly Accident prone. The word on which two succeeding operas depend Falls to appear on stage when it should be handed Over with a flamboyant gesture. Newspaper stuffing Falls from the helmets of the gods. Huge fans used to create an illusion of Salty sea breezes churn up a storm of stage dust and an epidemic of coughing. A new chemical used to create smoke effects la die wat sends the Star to bed for five Days with a membrane these indignities have befallen Madame Nilsson in the Pursuit of he exuding Art. But the crowning indignity especially for a girl born on a farm an married to a veterinarian was delivered by a horse
