New Old Meistersinger.

[uffeviking]

When I saw the cover of the latest Meistersinger I immediately thought it was a Wieland Wagner production and of course ordered it without reading the blurps. It's the 1999 Bayreuth production by Wolfgang Wagner!

Special! Different! Großartig! Powerful and yet all the subtle humour of  a 'comic opera' in tact. Wolfgang staged and directed it, plus designed the sets, very stark and plain but still giving us a view of Nürnberg in the style of Lionel Feininger. The backdrop not timbered houses only a collage of reddish brick tiles; very good artistic work. Hans Sachs and  Pogner live in a plain, simple house, no sign of any timber. How refreshing! Of course there is the stylised elder tree next to Sachsens house; the fragrance of the lilacs he mentions, is in the air. Maybe in Pogner's back yard?

My favourite scenery is in the third act, inside Sachsens house. A warmly lit plain room with arched ceiling and a door. The furniture almost white wood in mediaval style: a table, two chairs, a bench and the small cobbler's table. The expanse of the room prevents it from looking cluttered.

The costum design by Jorge Jara is another hit. Yes, they are traditional, but more like a simplified version, all the firlefanz, bows and ribbons gone, and muted colours, except for the festivities in the third act, then the colours explode in a  riot of summer bright greens and Walther is wearing a gold-coloured floor-length coat.

Now to the singers! Yes, there were good ones, Wolfgang must have collected them from every place. Matthias Hölle is Veit Pogner; Roman Trekel sings Konrad Nachtigall and  Torsten Kerl is Balthasar Zorn. Those are singers we now hear in major roles, in 1999 they were 'new' talents. I still have not decided who carried the show, Sachs or Walther. I have watched  the DVD with James Morris  as Sachs and thought he finally found a role he can use his limited acting talent and come out a winner, not so! Robert Holl in this production out-sings and out-acts Morris from beginning to end. I even like Holl's Wahn, überall Wahn better than that of José Van Dam. Holl's confrontation with Beckmesser, when he swiped the song, is brimming with grinning 'gotscha!'

Peter Seiffert is a commanding Walther von Stolzing, in 1999 at the top of his vocal talent. I have heard him much later in the Ring and was not too happy most of the time. Maybe in this one he turns on the volume too high now and then, but it is Bayreuth and he is still far from the 'Bayreuth Bark'.

The third singer, who almost steals the show is Endrik Wottrich as David. He too is in the early stages of his career and absolutely special both in singing and acting. I'll have to check and see where else I can find him to listen to in later performances.

Andreas Schmidt is Beckmesser, good voice, good acting but the dear man can't help it being outdone by those three main characters. The ladies don't sing too much, and since sopranos are not on my list of favourite voices anyhow, I honestly have to admit they did not stand out in my memory, except Emily Magee's – Eva – constant looking at Barenboim.

What can I say about Barenboim? He is still one of the best Wagner conductor we have and the way he can create and contain the exuberance at the Festwiese, yet not covering the singers, is marvelous.

Die Meistersinger is not and never has been my favourite Wagner opera, but this Wolfgang Wagner creation has caused me to like it much more than I did before. It's a must have addition to any Wagner collection.

[uffeviking]

That's the beginning of Act III scenery:

[Haffner]

That's the beginning of Act III scenery:

OOOOO! Maybe my first Meistersinger!

[marvinbrown]

That's the beginning of Act III scenery:

  A rather "modern" stage setting Lis, wouldn't you agree?

  marvin

 

[(poco) Sforzando]

  A rather "modern" stage setting Lis, wouldn't you agree?

  marvin

This being my very favorite Wagner opera, I rather like the kind of Meistersinger that preserves a sense of the period - as in the current Metropolitan Opera production, which (unfortunately) is something of a letdown from the wonderful Merrill-O'Hearn staging they used from 1962-93, but (fortunately) not a serious one. This production photo looks far too antiseptically modern to interest me on that score alone, and not being a major Barenboim fan either I don't think I'd jump on this unless I could first sample a library copy. 

As for the singers, most of them are unknown to me, but Endrik Wottrich seems to be a young man with a good head on his shoulders:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1274634,00.html

[uffeviking]

Marvin and Sforzando: You still think the setting of the Wolfgang Wagner production is too modern?

[Haffner]

Marvin and Sforzando: You still think the setting of the Wolfgang Wagner production is too modern?

This looks pretty darn good!

[(poco) Sforzando]

Marvin and Sforzando: You still think the setting of the Wolfgang Wagner production is too modern?

As already stated: I thought that way towards the scene in Sachs's workshop. I want to get other reviews and (preferably) to sample the DVD before plunking down $45 for a copy.

[Haffner]

As already stated: I thought that way towards the scene in Sachs's workshop. I want to get other reviews and (preferably) to sample the DVD before plunking down $45 for a copy.

That is a bit expensive.

[uffeviking]

Two discs; excellent quality video and sound; 274 minutes - that's darn close to 5 hours! - of superlative singing and acting; outstanding playing by the world famous Bayreuth Festival Orchestra conducted by one of our best living conductors.

That's Richard Wagner, not Willie Nelson. A bargain, I would say. 

[marvinbrown]

Two discs; excellent quality video and sound; 274 minutes - that's darn close to 5 hours! - of superlative singing and acting; outstanding playing by the world famous Bayreuth Festival Orchestra conducted by one of our best living conductors.

That's Richard Wagner, not Willie Nelson. A bargain, I would say. 

  It most certainly is a bargain and those photos you posted Lis do not seem to reflect a "modern" production.  I guess it's true that you should never judge a book by its cover. 

  PS:  I can't remember the last time I heard a Willie Nelson song!

  marvin

[(poco) Sforzando]

How did Willie Nelson get into this? is he on the DVD too?

[marvinbrown]

How did Willie Nelson get into this? is he on the DVD too?

  No and oh GOD I hope not! 

  marvin

[Haffner]

Two discs; excellent quality video and sound; 274 minutes - that's darn close to 5 hours! - of superlative singing and acting; outstanding playing by the world famous Bayreuth Festival Orchestra conducted by one of our best living conductors.

I'm really curious now!