Artur & the Dragons

The cartoon in the Chicago Sun showed Artur Rodzinski sailing high over the Chicago skyline astride a musical note. His grey mane streamed in the wind; one hand clutched a baton. Above his smiling face loomed a defiant caption: "I shall return."

That was ten years ago. Last week Conductor Rodzinski, 64, was back in Chicago for the first time since his abrupt dismissal as boss of the Chicago Symphony. He came this time at the invitation of the Chicago Lyric Opera to conduct three performances each of Tristan und Isolde and Boris Godunov. In the process he demonstrated much of the brilliance that made him a legend with Chicago audiences a decade ago--but also flashes of the erratic temperament that had antagonized stiff-necked symphony board members.

Rodzinski opened his return visit with a performance of Tristan and promptly scored a triumph that recalled his now legendary performance of the same work with Kirsten Flagstad and the Chicago Symphony eleven years ago. This time Rodzinski was hampered by scant rehearsal time and by the fact that the Lyric Opera's orchestra is a competent but far from first-rate pickup group. But he kindled a performance of ravishing warmth and coloration, better by far than anything previously heard from the Lyric Opera's pit. With Soprano Birgit Nilsson as Isolde, Tenor Karl Liebl as Tristan, and Mezzo Grace Hoffman as Brangaene, Rodzinski shaped a youthfully vibrant production, as remarkable for its knotted dramatic tensions as it was for its moments of shadowed repose.

Backstage, Rodzinski tossed off a shot of vodka ("I want to go out and get drunk!"), glowed about the undiminished loyalty of Chicago audiences. He still thought Chicago should be the cultural center of the U.S. (his ambitious campaign to extend the symphony to include opera performances was one of the reasons for his firing). But he denied any desire to exchange his present existence as a freelance conductor in Italy for a steady post in Chicago or anywhere else. Said he: "I wouldn't accept a permanent job if they offered it on a golden plate lined with platinum, uranium and cobalt. I want to let them sleep quietly, all those conductors in America with the Fafnir and Fasolt mentality, those dragons that worship gold."

At week's end Rodzinski abandoned his air of detached tolerance for a role more familiar to the Chicago fans. Down with a heavy cold, Rodzinski announced that on doctor's orders he was forced to cancel the first performance of Boris Godunov (which probably means that he will cancel all three). "You know why he needs all those doctors?" confided his wife to 'tiptoeing guests. "To tell him that he's all right."

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