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5.0étoiles sur 5
Meistersinger - as good as can be., Juil 19 2004
After watching that modern day singing contest -The American Idol- I am happy that this wonderful custom of singing for a prize is still part of the young people's world today. I suppose Wagner was ahead of his time using this idea in two of his operas (Tannhauser and Die Meistersinger) as a great musical and dramatic device.
Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger stand as probably the two greatest operas of the 19th century but they couldn't be more different from each other. It is one of the greatest mysteries of Wagner's genius,how he could change his style from the ecstatic chromaticism of Tristan to the optimistic, straightforward C-major tonality and counterpoint of the Meistersinger. But of course Wagner had his own agenda. Die Meistersinger was a way of showing his frustration of getting his "music of the future" (Zukunftsmusik) accepted by the musical establishment (led by Brahms) and also to get back at his critics, mainly Edouard Hanslick, his nemesis. This he did with a vengeance by the character of Beckmesser, the jealous and wicked little town-clerk who can only criticize, but incapable of understanding new ideas and create anything worthwhile. So much for introduction.
First of all I find it hard to forgive ARTHAUS for not releasing this DVD sooner in North America.. It has been available in PAL version in Europe since 2001 and was nominated for Gramophone Magazine Awards that year. It came in third, but only because of the extremely stiff competition (The Damnation of Faust won, also by ARTHAUS).
But I truly love this DVD. A sumptuous live performance from the prestigious Deutsche Oper ,beautifully directed and staged by Gotz Friedrich, gives us a somewhat new look at this magnificent work.
The opera has been slightly modernized, brought to the 19th century but this is hardly noticeable apart from the costumes. The town of Nurnberg is really still the same. The director and designer wisely make reference to the destruction of this city in the War using graphics of a rickety toy-city between acts. They also emphasize the object-lesson of Sachs' warning to Germany not to get too warlike and hungry for territory .At this point the stage goes abruptly quite dark in the middle of the 3rd act celebrations to somehow foreshadow a future disaster. A very powerful statement indeed.
The second interesting point is the handling of Hans Sachs. Here he is represented as one of the working class . " He looks like Lech Walesa," says the Penguin Guide. He is also younger and still virile, and as such it is justifiable that he is still interested in Eva romantically. In fact he is quite a Freudian Hans Sachs.
Wolfgang Brendel is tremendous in this role. His wonderful dramatic ability illuminates the whole performance. His voice is very good, though sometimes I felt it was a bit out of focus, but this being a live performance nearly five hours long, it is quite understandable.
On the other hand Gosta Windbergh as Walther von Stoltzing is no better than satisfactory. Eva Johansson as Eva Pogner
develops her character nicely along the performance though some stressful moments are noticeable. She shines in the third act Quintet however, and contributes wonderfully to one of the most sublime moments in the opera.
I liked the secondary roles very much: Uwe Peper as David with excellent voice and acting energy, never boring. Ute Walther as Magdalena looked very good and stylish and also had a fine voice.
One musn't forget Eike Wilm Schulte, Beckmesser: great character actor singing the role very well.
Among the Meisters of course Pogner , Victor von Halem, a strong basso, well focused. In a lesser role, Fritz Kothner, Lenus Carlson, builds his " master of ceremonies" role interestingly. All the other Meisters are delightfully individualistic, each with his own idiosyncrasies, so the whole first act is a joy to watch and hear.
Frubeck de Burgos handles the majestic contrapunctal score with great Wagnerian authority and knowhow.
I still could go on. To sum up: A wonderful, inspired and imaginative performance with slight vocal imperfections. If you want a " perfect" Meistersinger CD set, go for the Jochum with Fischer-Dieskau, Placido Domingo etc. on DGG.(also by Deutsche Oper). This is the best one I ever heard.
Two DVD's with excellent illustrated booklet, neatly presented. Highly recommended.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Absolutely wonderful!!, Mai 21 2004
I was so happy to see this released in the US market. It's been available for several years in Europe. I agree with all the positives that have been said about this recording. Brendel is superb and it was great to hear Beckmesser sung instead of the usual caricature. Watch the facial expressions on the listeners as he sings his contorted version of the Prize Song. They are priceless. I think what really impressed me the most was sense of involvement everyone showed during this very long opera. You could truly believe that these were the real people, not actors on a stage. This is a situation where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. It was a lucky audience to be in the theatre that night. I could go on and on about this performance but others have already said it. I can't image a better performance of Meistersinger.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
An all-round ideal 'Meistersinger', Mai 13 2004
Surely it is rare to see such a roundly satisfying performance of Meistersinger - with no significant drawbacks in any aspect of singing, acting or production.Contrary to "A Viewer from USA", Karita Mattila is not magnificent on this DVD. She isn't in it at all. They may be thinking of the soon-to-be-released MET DVD on DG. But Brendel's Sachs is wonderful - ruminative, wise, handsome in a hard-working middle-aged way, thoroughly convincing. He certainly is not meant to be a 'craggy old man' - how then could we make sense of Eva's Act 3 outburst that if she had the choice she would marry him? No, Brendel gets it right, his voice full and firm to the end, and he galvanises an impressive cast. Winbergh's lyrical and expressive Walther could be put in the shade by odious comparisons to the role's greatest exponents on disc - Konya & Heppner (the latter is on the forthcoming MET DVD) - but he is certainly thoroughly enjoyable, even if he lets emotion override singing the notes towards the end of the prize song. The Quintet eventually takes flight though Eva Johannson doesn't launch it with much inspiration. Her outburst at "O Sachs, Mein Freund", though, is spine-tingling, and she looks the part, attractive if not quite as beautiful as Ute Walther, her Magdalena. David & Beckmesser are both well-routined, thoroughly sung and wonderfully acted. Gotz Friedrich's direction is pure gold. The orchestra is on terrific form. This is first-class singing, acting and music making all round. No regrets here.
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