Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by David Mouchtar-Samorai at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Stars Albert Pesendorfer (Hans Sachs), Jochen Kupfer (Sixtus Beckmesser), Michael Putsch (Walter von Stolzing), Michaela Maria Mayer (Eva), Guido Jentjens (Veit Pogner), Tilman Lichdi (David), as well as Christoph Wittman, Kurt Schober, Martin Berner, Martin Platz, Philip Carmichael, Martin Nyvall, Yong Jae Moon, Vladislav Solodyagin, Daeyoung Kim, and Leilo Pfister. Marcus Bosch conducts the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg and the Staatstheater Nürnberg Chorus (Chorus Master T. Vaask). Sets by H. Hauser; costumes by U. Eicker; choreography by J. Monten; dramaturgy by K. Weßler; lighting by K. Kornberger. Directed for TV by M. Schuetrumpf. Sung in German. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

According to the notes on the package, this is a "light Wagner" interpretation of Meistersinger, but run time is 4 1/2 hours.

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.