Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (review)

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is Wagner’s only mature work that does not include supernatural elements, and he went to great lengths to add historical verisimilitude to his plot. It makes eminent sense, then, to stage it in the period and place he envisaged. During a long gestation, Wagner’s idea for a comedy underwent great changes after it first stuck in his mind while recuperating in Marienbad in 1845. The basic “guy gets gal” plot accumulated a rich and complex texture of both meaning and expression by the time of its first performance in 1868. A “traditional” production should strive to realize both the historical and the philosophical aspects, and this video attempts to do so. As a poetical comedy, it is best played straight with the characters carefully delineated and believable as flesh and blood. The chorus and its subsets of apprentices also require careful management, especially during the melee at the end of Act II, so as not to degenerate into pantomime.

Surprisingly, this production by the Vienna State Opera, directed by Otto Schenk with sets and costumes by Jürgen Rose, premiered as long ago as October 1975. The reason for recording this amalgam of two performances from January 2008 was presumably to capture the interpretation of Christian Thielemann, currently one of the hottest commodities on the conducting circuit. A very fine performance he gives, too: expressive, passionate, and well-paced. To cite one example early in Act I, the exposition of the Tons that a candidate must learn to become a mastersinger, is unhurried and clearly articulated but never flags. His conducting, never lacking in ardor, elicits some wonderful playing from the orchestra. He is perhaps just a little short on the warmth and amiability that some of the best conductors have brought to this score.

This production is beginning to show its age and there are one or two oddities about it such as the all-weather canopy that substitutes for the “open meadow” in the final scene. Stranger yet is the bright yellow bridal dress worn by Eva, rather than the “gleaming white” Wagner envisaged. The chief responsibility in this work rests weightily on the character of Hans Sachs, and Falk Struckmann, a fine actor, has done his homework, portraying his character’s strengths and vulnerabilities in noble voice that is marred by pitch uncertainty at times. Johan Botha, as Walther, sings ringingly but his acting is wooden; Adrian Eröd, a vocally assured Beckmesser, tends toward slight over-characterization but not to caricature. The one disappointment is Riccarda Merbeth’s Eva, far too matronly in manner and with an overly-dramatic voice. The remainder of the cast is more than adequate.

The recorded sound is clear and balances orchestra and voices. Peter Brans-combe provides English subtitles in excellent translation. Camera work is this video’s bugbear. Filmed almost exclusively in close-up, very few shots last more than four or five seconds; such frenetic activity is distracting, wearisome, and often withholds vital context. How one longs for the stillness of a settled long shot at the end of the Act III quintet, for instance! This approach is particularly detrimental to Ms. Merbeth whose vocal production is accompanied by grimaces, but such close scrutiny affects the others as well to a greater or lesser degree. In recording opera, a video director should be sensitive to, and not impede, the musico-dramatic implications inherent in the score.

I dare say these performances would have been gratifying for those in the theater, giving them the feeling that they had had their “Meistersingers-worth.” Sadly, despite its virtues, this video memento won’t wear well visually.