Jon Vickers & Birgit Nilsson. "O sink hernieder" (Met, 1974).

Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde.
Tristan: Jon Vickers.
Isolde: Birgit Nilsson.
Brangäne: Michèle Vilma.
Kurwenal: William Dooley.
Dirección musical: Erich Leinsdorf.
Nueva York, 30 de enero de 1974.

Acerca de esta función, escribió Donal Henahan en "The New York Times" (2 de febrero de 1974):

"Nilsson and Vickers Cheered at Met.

From an antilitter standpoint, It was deplorable. When Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers stepped out on the Metropolitan Opera stage for their solo bows after Wednesday night's performance of “Tristan and Isolde,” snowstorms of confetti greeted each in turn. But even the sternest ecologist in the audience might have agreed that there is a time for everything and that this was a time for confetti.

It was the season's sixth “Tristan,” but the one many Metropolitan regulars had been waiting for: Birgit Nilsson's first appearance of the season as Isolde, and Jon Vickers's first appearance as her Tristan. It proved worth the wait. The Swedish soprano's stainless‐steel sword of a voice cut through the orchestra when necessary, but Miss Nilsson also did some of the most beautiful soft singing that one has ever heard from her. There was a strong hint of fatigue when she began the Liebestod, but the moment passed and the incredible Nilsson voice carried the night to a glorious end.

Mr. Vickers, in his best voice, met Miss Nilsson on her own lofty terms, and sounded more like a genuine heldentenor than he sometimes has in the past. Although his slow‐motion stalking and exaggerated postures could be a visual distraction (the hardest thing any director has to teach a Wagnerian singer is how to stand still), he sang the part with intelligent pacing, sustained power and emotional nuance.

From the start, this was a wildly cheered performance — one would have thought the audience as well as the two principals had swallowed that love potion. Erich Leinsdorf, after a somewhat scrawny and emotionally attenuated Prelude to Act One, built the performance craftily and with an ear for both the singers and the drama taking place in the orchestra. Michele Vilma, in her Met debut, was a tremulous but effective Brangäne; Paul Plishka's King Marke managed not to bore one with his monologue, and William Dooley gave Kurwenal unusual dramatic dimension as well as vocal authority.

Further contributing to the over‐all excellence of this “Tristan” in a season when superior “Tristans” have been a drug on the market were Raymond Gibbs as the Sailor's Voice, William Lewis as Melot, Louis Sgarro as the Steersman and Nico Castel as the Shepherd. Richard Nass played the Shepherd's English horn solo to perfection and was given a stage bow. Like everyone else concerned, he deserved it".