ENO Mastersingers

[Prommer]

At a bad (or good?) moment for ENO, having lost Chairman and Executive Director, the opening night of the adapted Richard Jones WNO production comes on Saturday.

I shall be there, and will report back.

Anybody have an inside track as to how preparations are going? The dress rehearsal was yesterday, I understand. Also, will it be broadcast on R3?

Cast below

Hans Sachs Iain Paterson
Eva Rachel Nicholls
Beckmesser Andrew Shore
Pogner James Creswell
Walther von Stolzing Gwyn Hughes Jones
David Nicky Spence
Kothner David Stout
Magdalene Madeleine Shaw
Night Watchman Nicholas Crawley

[Ein Heldenleben]

I await prommer's report with great interest. In the meantime I've just posted this on the ENO thread. I hope for those unable to go to the Coli there is a Radio three relay in the offing -

After last nigh's absolutely magnificent Mastersingers I sincerely hope the Arts Council give ENO every penny of the money back . It started with one of the finest account of the overture I have ever heard and reached a climax with a beautifully sung quintet. Iain Paterson's Sachs was one of the most heartfelt and moving I can remember - memories of Norman Bailey on the same stage came flooding back, Truly an overwhelming experience. There are plenty of tickets left though prices seem to have gone up since the 70's.....

[Nick Armstrong]

It started with one of the finest account of the overture I have ever heard ...

You made me curious to see who was conducting: the ubiquitous and increasingly excellent Edward Gardner, I see...

[Stanley Stewart]

Encouraging news, indeed. Instant memories of several visits to The Coli in the 70s to hear Reginald Goodall lead an unforgettable cast: Alberto Remedios, Norman Bailey and Rita Hunter in their shining hour. My last visit to this production was in 1976 but I ventured north to hear Bailey as Sachs in the Scottish Opera production, conducted by Alex Gibson, at HM Theatre, Aberdeen, in 1977. Buses parked at nearby Union Terrace to cope with the large chorus who couldn't be allocated dressing room space at the venue!

Now tempted to get my off-air DVD of The Quest for Reginald Goodall off the shelves for a Sunday afternoon matinee, followed by Farewell, George, - a company Adieu to Lord Harewood - which includes an Act 3 extract from The Mastersingers. A great era instantly comes alive again!

[Prommer]

The shade of Reggie would approve of this company effort, surely...

Absolutely stunning evening - a tour de force. Particular highlights included an amazingly well sung and articulated Pogner from James Creswell. More anon when time!

[bluestateprommer]

Even one US newspaper is in on the act with this very favorable review of the ENO Mastersingers in the New York Times.

[Prommer]

No reviewers have mentioned tempi at all, which is unusual, but it counts as an unexpectedly slow reading of the score. My timings were just over 85 mins for Act I, 63 minutes for Act II and a whopping 126 minutes for Act II. That makes the final act slower than Knappertsbusch's slowest account in Bayreuth, in 1960, which came in at 123 minutes!

Reggie Goodall took 137 minutes over the uncut Act III he conducted in September 1968 at the Coli but that is off the scale...

However, like that performance, I think the reason this doesn't feel slow (and I'm going again for the last performance today) is precisely because it is in English, it is being sung with all-round very good diction, and played at a pace (and a volume) that is singer friendly in allowing them to put over the text.

It may even be that the fact of singing it in English has meant that singers and conductor alike settle to the pace they find natural for not only singing the words but doing so with dramatic conviction and intelligibility. Didn't Goodall himself give such a justification for his own slow tempi?

Thus the audience is hanging on every word and loses track of time and is immersed. Which is how it should be.

But I do think Gardner and the ENO Orchestra would be surprised to find that their tempi are more languid than Knappertsbusch's on the Green Hill...

In 1888, by the way, the Ring's first conductor, Hans Richter, brought Act III of Meistersinger home in precisely 2 hours (120 mins), also in Bayreuth.

[Prommer]

It was a glorious evening - I went once more last night for the final performance of the run, having caught the opener. John Berry there to bathe in the glory, John Wilson to pick up some conducting tips from Ed G., Gus Christie and Danielle de Niese enceinte, Philip Hensher, Felicity Palmer picking up her tickets from the box office...

Again, I was struck by the immense and completely satisfying company/team effort. Not a weak link in the cast, and it is a mighty one. And the score sounded terrific in the Coli's acoustic - which for Wagner I find ideal, much 'bloomier' and airier than Covent Garden's boxier sound.

For the most part, especially from the men, immaculate diction (how often can one say that). Subtitles superfluous, and not just when Andrew Shore was singing! Only (slight) blot here was Rachel Nicholls' Eva, but it cannot be easy with those high lines. A real testament to the occasional pleasure and added benefit of opera in one's native tongue - advocated, not least, by Herr Wagner.

New discovery: James Creswell (Pogner) has the most magnificent 'round' black bass voice tone but with a marvellous warmth to it as well.

Production: witty, affectionately directed, and contrary to most reports no 'ducking' of the 'German issue', just a return to the text. 'Honour (y)our German masters' being not proto-Nazi overlords but (as compared and contrasted with ancient Rome) our forebears and progenitors in art and culture. The hymn of praise at the end of is to and for them, not to German military nor political power.

The Act III staging was a continual pleasure, which meant it just rolled along in an overwhelming wave of sympathy and good humour - helped by wonderfully flexible and light conducting of the orchestra by Gardner, who was singer friendly at all times. The scenes in Sachs' house were a joy, with notable comic acting and stage business from Andrew Shore, frequently hilarious. (Does he not deserve a knighthood?) Beckmesser is depicted as a fussy pedant AND randy/frustrated older man who spots the chance to satisfy all of his quirks by bagging Eva simply by dint of a superior mastery of the rules rather than anything else - hence his frustration with Walther's appearance, and Pogner and Sachs' gentle conniving to deprive him of his 'rightful' prize. No hint of any Jewish caricature at all.

Iain Paterson as Sachs was (as apparently on Saturday) announced as having a heavy cold and throat infection. Again, he triumphed, showing only the same occasional wear and strain that almost all 100% healthy Sachses do at the end of a long evening. His vocal and facial subtleties were a particular delight to someone sitting towards the front of the stalls.

Ed Gardner conducted a warm, glowing account of little bombast but great reserves of humanity and understanding. It was, as set out above, a slowish reading by the clock which most people would not have noticed. The tempi were exceptionally well chosen for this Anglophone cast and Anglophone audience - it felt entirely natural and right. The orchestra spilt over in to the stage boxes at both stall and dress circle level, and at one point Eva and Lena were occupying the Royal Box during the prize song! The orchestra were, in Bayreuth fashion, up on stage at the end too, to well-deserved cheers.

What more to say? In my view, up there in the top three productions I have ever seen of anything; the finest advertisement possible for ENO, and at a most timely moment; and a reminder of how Meistersinger as a work has been a talisman and good omen for the company, now as in 1968 a time of uncertainty and change.

Only one cavil (again), against this background: no one in authority took this up to broadcast, either on Radio 3 or (even bigger loss) on DVD or to cinema. Not even when it was clear it was going to be a triumph at the opening night, well over a month ago. Unlike the good people of Nuremberg at the end of Act II, they were clearly all abed.

[Stanley Stewart]

Thank you, Prommer, for your lively and comprehensive comments which also reminded me of so many joyous evenings when Goodall or Mackerras provided the same aura of insight and radiance, accompanying several outstanding performers in the 60s/70s. The absence of a broadcast or DVD of the current production is, indeed, deplorable.

[slarty]

It makes me sad that the run has ended with no change of heart from the Beeb. I fully understand that they need to plan for these things, but they needed to plan also in the past as well, and many times the Beeb would record a performance for later transmission, mind you in those days they could call on their own employees to do the job, today it most likely is farmed out to some private company to do it. Not surprising, with so many middle management types to look after, the Beeb can't afford to keep too many sound engineers on the payroll, if any at all.
I saw Reggie's Mastersinger at Roseberry Avenue and then again many times at the Coloseum and am very sorry that I could not get over for this new production.

Hopefully it will be revived next season. Hopefully ENO can keep everyone together for the next run.

Thanks for the review Prommer.

[Nick Armstrong]

a glorious evening

And a glorious review, Prommer - thanks so much for such a vivid account. Shame on me that I failed to get round to going (I did faff around on the site at one point, but must have been feeling stingy as the prices for the seats I was interested in struck me as large... it's been an expensive year...).

[Prommer]

I did see John Berry a couple of rows behind me, and Vernon Ellis the ENO President too, and thought about buttonholing them but it was too late, and would have involved pointless mutual handwringing.

They have apparently been inundated with tweets etc and people making the same points...

But as I was leaving the building, I was told that the cameras are in tonight to transmit Traviata to cinemas... Could they have not come a day earlier and got it 'in the can' at least?

One despairs of seeing anything like a) joined-up thinking or, failing that, b) an ability to sniff the wind, react, and take an executive decision! And don't tell me these things cannot be done; impossible, old chap...

And slarty, I would love to see it revived, but with this cast? They are all going on to pastures new and greater challenges. Paterson and Creswell in particular. And Gardner too!

Argghhh....

[Nick Armstrong]

the cameras are in tonight to transmit Traviata to cinemas... Could they have not come a day earlier and got it 'in the can' at least?

[Dave2002]

And a glorious review, Prommer - thanks so much for such a vivid account. Shame on me that I failed to get round to going (I did faff around on the site at one point, but must have been feeling stingy as the prices for the seats I was interested in struck me as large... it's been an expensive year...).

I have had success recently at ENO with the Secret Seats, though there is always the possibility that opting for these one may end up with truly rotten seats. This has not happened to me so far, and I have had seats in the stalls, or at the side of the dress circle, which were well worth what we paid for them.

For me a rotten seat would be one under any of the overhangs, or perhaps one of the ultra uncomfortable ones up in the gallery. A good seat is not absolutely guaranteed even if the full asking price on the opening of booking is offered.

[Stanley Stewart]

I have had success recently at ENO with the Secret Seats, though there is always the possibility that opting for these one may end up with truly rotten seats. This has not happened to me so far, and I have had seats in the stalls, or at the side of the dress circle, which were well worth what we paid for them.

For me a rotten seat would be one under any of the overhangs, or perhaps one of the ultra uncomfortable ones up in the gallery. A good seat is not absolutely guaranteed even if the full asking price on the opening of booking is offered.

Indeed, the overhangs - there's the rub! We desperately need ambassadors with the heft of, say, Arnold Goodman and George Harewood to seek funding and replace the London Coliseum with a less cavernous amphitheatre with acoustics and eyelines fit for the 21st century.

I'm still fuming at the poverty of imagination which failed to record an internationally acclaimed production of The Mastersingers for DVD. In mitigation, I've sought the only alternative and taken an off-air DVD from the shelves to take a look at the WNO production in platform performance, conducted by Lothar Koenigs, at the Proms, 17 July 2010. Orchestrally a treat and Bryn Terfel registered as Hans Sachs, although it's clear from the reviews that the ENO cast 'hit the heights' with a rare quality in performance.

Compensation, too, in traversing the decades with yet another viewing of 'The Quest for Reggie Goodall' and the 'Farewell to George, Gala'. So many fond memories. Ah, me!