RICHARD WAGNER
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NURNBERG

Hans Sachs DONALD McINTYRE Sixtus Beckmesser JOHN PRINGLE Walther Von Stolzing PAUL FREY Eva HELENA DOESE
Magdalena ROSEMARY GUNN David CHRISTOPHER DOIG
Veit Pogner DONALD SHANKS Fritz Kothner ROBERT ALLMAN

THE AUSTRALIAN OPERA CHORUS & ELIZABETHAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA/CHARLES MACKERRAS

Director MICHAEL HAMPE
Set Designer JOHN GUNTER
Costume Designer REINHARD HEINRICH
Lighting Director NIGEL LEVINGS

Arthaus DVD 100 122

This MEISTERSINGER is conceived on a pleasingly modest scale, reminding us that Nurenburg would have been quite a small town by modern standards in the Middle Ages. I enjoyed greatly the first act and found the settings satisfying, equally so the third with the sequence of duets and the final ceremonial well choreographed, but not too grand. Reservations about the middle act, the street scene not very convincing, likewise the riot. A big problem, not the fault of the performers, is Beckmesser's serenade, an unfunny scene to our taste and, with Sachs' incessant hammering, tedious.

Mostly it looks and sounds good, though one has to exercise a little tactful consideration when the homely Eva is being lauded for her exceptional beauty. (This morning I read that Deborah Voigt has been dropped by Covent Garden, her girth rendering her unsuitable to be Ariadne.) Responding to Sachs' flattery, HELENA DOESE charmingly tells us that "My dressmaker has managed to conceal the problems I have".

The problematic glorification of German Art is handled lightly, and the whole goes well in 1990 under Charles Mackerras (picture format 4:3). Michael Hampe's production is broadly traditional, and good for that. Sound satisfactory from the Sidney Opera House, and it is a pleasure to watch a relaxed Mackerras conducting the preludes. Not the greatest Meistersinger you'll ever see, but warming and recommendable.

The Mastersinger of Nuremberg

BERND WEIKL, MANFRED SCHENK, HERMANN PREY, SIEGFRIED JERUSALEM, MARl ANNE HAGGANDER, GRAHAM CLARK
Orchester & Chor der Bayreuther Festspiele/HORST STEIN
Set Design and Production WOLFGANG WAGNER

Deutsche Grammophon DVD 00440 073 4160 [Bayreuth 1984]

Also filmed on 4:3 is the 1984 Bayreuth production with a starry cast, all in fine voice, looking good and filmed unfussily; better all round than the Australian production reviewed above.

The cover picture shows the village fete atmosphere of the finale, with people eating, drinking beer, dancing and making merry - real, natural people.

The composer's grandson Wolfgang (b 1919) had been steeped in Wagner's music all his life and in this production he strove to make Beckmesser less of a caricatured comic figure than as usually depicted; Hermann Prey becomes believable and sympathetic by the end. The heart of the opera for us was the first part of Act 3, with the marvellous scherzando exchange about the stolen poem between Prey and a younger Sachs than we often see (Bernd Weikl), leading to the glorious Quintet, filmed in perfect stillness.

A fuller report to follow, as this is an exceptional performance with no weaknesses we noticed, and a highly recommendable purchase. The silver-haired Wolfgang Wagner makes a fleeting personal appearance in the Alfred Hitchcock manner at the end.