Music: Sad Tristan

For many years stocky, shock-headed Metropolitan Tenor Giovanni Martinelli nursed a secret ambition to sing Tristan, most glamorous, most gut-busting of German opera roles. But in the days when Martinelli's voice was at its sweetest, Metropolitan directors always chose a throatier Teuton for the job. Last week at the Chicago Opera, 54-year-old Veteran Martinelli finally got his chance. Playing opposite buxom Kirsten Flagstad's bosom, his white hair covered with a blond wig, Tenor Martinelli sang his part without a misplaced guttural. But between towering Soprano Flagstad and the booming orchestra led by Flagstad's private accompanist, Edwin McArthur, Martinelli's long song of...