Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2008 by Katharina Wagner at the Bayreuth Festspiele. Stars Franz Hawlata (Hans Sachs), Artur Korn (Veit Pogner), Charles Reid (Kunz Vogelgesang), Rainer Zaun (Konrad Nachtigal), Michael Volle (Sixtus Beckmesser), Markus Eiche (Fritz Kothner), Edward Randall (Balthasar Zorn), Hans-Jürgen Lazar (Ulrich Eisslinger), Stefan Heibach (Augustin Moser), Martin Snell (Hermann Ortel), Andreas Macco (Hans Schwarz), Diogenes Randes (Hans Foltz), Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther von Stolzing), Norbert Ernst (David), Michaela Kaune (Eva), Carola Guber (Magdalene), and Friedemann Röhlig (A nightwatchman). Sebastian Weigle conducts the Bayreuther Festspiele Orchestra and the Beyreuther Festspiele Chorus (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich; Music Supervisor Christoph Ulrich Meier). Stage design by Tilo Steffens; costume design by Michaela Barth and Tilo Steffens; lighting by Andreas Grüter; dramaturgy by Robert Sollich. Directed for TV by Andreas Morell. Sung in German. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B
This is a glorious example of superübereurotrash. We tend to give such titles the faint praise grade of C or, when the trash heap is high enough, a C+. Maybe this one should be C+++. The prop list for this productions probably has as many pages as the score. There are twists, puzzles, and inside jokes here to satisfy the most astute Wagner trivia expert. By the way, along with the psycho stuff and gratuitous salaciousness, there is also a lot of wonderful music, great acting, and beautiful singing. We'll also admit that we were never bored. The video and sound recordings seemed fine to us.
Peter J. Rabinowitz writing in the International Record Review called this "the least impressive Blu-ray opera I've heard." (Hey! Peter is a magazine critic who has a hi-definition TV. That's as rare as a penguin in Panama!) The May 2013 issue of Gramophone has a long article considering all the major recordings in history of Die Meistersinger. Arnold Whittall picks the DVD version of subject title as the best "radical" video available of Meistersinger (page 120). Whittall does on to say, "not everything works, but at its best this is a formidably accomplished achievement." Based on Whittall’s comments and our own viewing of this, we give this a provisional B grade.
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