Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

[ritter]

We might almost say, in hindsight, it was just the experience I have been waiting for – although I have what is likely a very fine recording of the full opera, I haven't yet sat down to listen to it . . . and an opportunity to hear the music live is almost invariably a plus, for me.

Wonderful  ..... but, did you like it, cher ami?

[Karl Henning]

Oh, yes, indeed.  So I am one step closer to giving the full opera a whirl.

Perhaps I shall treat myself, once the ballet is utterly finished  0:)

[kishnevi]

Interesting, Jeffrey, thanks.  I don't think that angle has been the 'interference' at all . . . I've mostly been positively inclined to the work, as we played a band transcription, not of the Prelude per se, but of a medley of the best-known tunes which might serve as a "poor man's Overture," back in my school days.

Personally, I think the half hour or so which starts with the Quintet and ends with Walther's prize song is the best half hour of opera ever written.

[ritter]

Personally, I think the half hour or so which starts with the Quintet and ends with Walther's prize song is the best half hour of opera ever written.

That, I fully agree with  ...Simply sublime, from one height to the next. Just wonderful!!! But I extend this remark through the end of the opera...

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Opera Australia are doing this one next year. It's one of the many productions they import from overseas which is a bit of a shame considering the success of their original Ring they did in 2016 and a few years before that

[ritter]

The highly praised new Bayreuth production of Die Meistersinger von  Nürnberg, directed by Barrie Kosky and conducted by Philippe Jordan will appear on DVD (Deutsche Grammophon) in July. No cover yet...

I've got tickets to see it on August 21. 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

The highly praised new Bayreuth production of Die Meistersinger von  Nürnberg, directed by Barrie Kosky and conducted by Philippe Jordan will appear on DVD (Deutsche Grammophon) in July. No cover yet...

I've got tickets to see it on August 21. 

Looking forward to this!

[JCBuckley]

Same here. Kosky's production of Saul was wonderful, I thought.

[ritter]

Cross-posted from the "What concerts are you looking forward to" thread:

Just bought tickets for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Teatro Real here in Madrid on May 18 (the production premiered last night). Pablo Heras-Casado conducts, the stage director is Laurent Pelly, and Gerald Finley sings Hans Sachs.

Meistersinger has been absent from Madrid since 2001, when Daniel Barenboim brought the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin production (by Harry Kupfer) to the Teatro Real. The last time I saw the work was in Bayreuth in 2018 (the wonderful Barrie Kosky production, conducted by Philippe Jordan).

It's a privilege to see this masterpiece on stage...

...

I'm just back home after attending, as announced upthread, a performance  at the Teatro Real here in Madrid of "the greatest work of genius ever achieved by any artist in any field of human endeavour" (Ignacy Jan Paderewski dixit) composed by the "dullest, most boring, pompous, bombastic and overrated composer ever" ( @Florestan dixit  ).

Laurent Pelly's staging was efficient but not memorable and slightly drab, Gerald Finley a superb Sachs, Jongmin Park an imposing Pogner, Leigh Melrose a compelling Beckmesser, and I was very favourably impressed by Tomislav Mužek as Stolzing (he had received generally negative reviews). I found the ladies at a significantly lower level, so I will not name them.

But this was Pablo Heras-Casado's triumph. His conducting was masterful; he squeezed every last drop of the contrapuntal riches of this miraculous score, his pacing was perfect, and the dynamics were very judicious (only on a couple of occasions would the orchestra drown the voices, and the fortissimo rendition of the "Wachet auf!" chorus in Act III was perhaps a bit extreme, but this was clearly an interpretative choice). Really world-class Wagner conducting... 

I know that Paderewski's opinion on Die Meistersinger is an exaggeration, but only slightly so  . What a fabulous work it is, in any event!

I don't know how long it'll be available, but the performance of Die Meistersinger I attended here in Madrid was streamed live and posted YouTube: