Proms Tribute to Wagner The Arts History was made at the Proms last night when, in celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Wagner's birth, the Covent Garden Opera Company and 'their director, Mir. Georg Solti, came to the Albert Hall to offer the whole of the third act of G6tterdammnerung. This was the crown- ing achievement of a season already outstanding for operatic enterprise, for here was not just a repeat performance of a repertory work, but a preview of a new production (the premiere is on Wednesday) at its peak of reheasal, with a cast headed by international celebrities of the calibre of Miss Birgit Nilsson-and for promenaders, all for a mere 3s. 6d. T'he sound of Brilnnbildels vice ring- ing out firm, calm, clear and radiant above the ou-tsize orchestra in the cios- ing scene was a ithrill in this hall that few people will forget for many a aong day. Miss Nilsson at this moment was in every sense a chilld of the gods, her supenhuman poise and com!passion con- trasting finely witbh Gutine's more hysterical human emotion supplied with attractively sensuous tone by Miss Marie Colbier. Mr. Wolfgang Windgassen seemed to be more deliberately saving himnself for the ardours of the coming week than his colleagues; his phrasing sounded a little inflexible and his tone rather too dry at the top last night for the romantic child of nature of the retro- spective narration, though he was undeniably impressive when faced with the more solemn implications of the present. Mr. Gottlob Frick was a superbly dark and ominous Hagen, with tone that never lacked lustre however sinister the burden of his song. The Gunther was Mr. Thomas Stewart, and there were three firmly welded Rhine maidens in the Misses Barbara Holt, Gwyneth Jones and Maureen Guy. In tonal balance, how- ever, the middle voice of the three tended to dominate the ensemble. The male chorus (rehearsed by Pro- fessor Wilhelm Pitz) made a small but graphic contribution, and the orchestra played with superlative assurance warmth and flexibility. Mr. Solti him- self extracted every ounce of drama from the music, and proved a masterly architect in his grading of the several great climaxes of the act. Before the interval he gave an equally stirring inter- pretation of Siegfried's Journey to the Rhine, but in the Prelude and Liebestod (from Tristan und Isolde)-and notably in the Prelude before Miss Nilsson arrived to cast her own glow on the music-his restless physical exertion, in pursuit of rhythmic tension, seemed mis- placed in this music. Some of its lyricism, its sensuous beauty and indeed its true inner spirit seemed to elude him so that it never engulfed the listener in wave upon wave of rapture as it should. Proms Tribute to Wagner