I have just watched Act One of Glyndebourne's Die Meistersinger. So far very good. There is one clear advantage for such a small auditorium: you can have younger voices that would be stressed singing these roles at the the Coliseum or Covent Garden. Although Hans Sachs has not had much to do yet Gerald Finley is beautifully firm toned compared with anyone else I have heard except perhaps Hans Reinmar who recorded excerpts after the 2nd World War and would have been a similar age to Finley.
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We have now reached the long interval when the Glyndebourne audience will mostly be in the gardens. Like French TV when they broadcast opera there is no interval waffle. Instead we hear voices in the auditorium, the stage hands at work and the oboes, harpists etc. who continue to tune their instruments. I am very impressed by Gerald Finley's Hans Sachs, Alistair Miles' Veit Pogner (indeed each Mastersinger is a character in his own right), the David of Topi Lehtipuu is a delightful pain in the neck. Interestingly, it was the only production I have seen with Sach's house on the right of the stage. The LPO play like a chamber pochestra of angels for Vladimir Jurowski.
The Guardian website will continue to let you see this brilliant production for the next seven days.
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Many thanks for the heads-up on this Chris!
I had to turn down a ticket for a performance of this earlier this month. This provides some compensation...
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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The LPO really are playing like angels as Chris says.
Ive always had a special affection for the orchestra.Comment
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A lovely performance, beautifully directed, acted (some minor-part mugging excepted - yes, I'm talking about you, overly-mature-lady-apprentice) and designed. If it didn't quite glow as gloriously heart-warmingly as Meistersinger can, well, how many do? And in any case it's splendid to see the work on a day so close to the date it's set.
I hope the NY Met presentation team were watching, learning and taking notes, but I bet they weren't.
BertComment
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A very clever set which with the addition or absence of panels became different indoor and outdoor scenes. Never before have I noticed so clearly and movingly the widower aspect of Hans Sachs. The way Gerald Finley played this role and the reaction of Anna Gabler, Eva, in the two big scenes which touch on his feelings were more powerful than usual and of course the covered family portrait was very touching. There were a couple of amusing touches in the first half of Act 3: when Sachs awoke he realised he had polished off a bottle of something strong after the beating up of Beckmesser. His head ached as much as other people's and he staggered to look out of a window supporting himself momentarily on a bust of Richard Wagner almost as if to say "it was your fault; hold me up." A few minutes later Walter in a fit of temper goes to smash a bust of Mozart but stops himself.
As I have already said Finley was a beautiful voiced Sachs and as interesting as Norman Bailey as a character. I think he is a more deeply thought out and thinking Sachs than Bryn Terfel who is good in the role. Eva (Anna Gabler) and Walter von Stoltzing (Marco Jetzsch) were very serviceable but both need to work on their acting. He was very sweet-voiced (a bit like a much younger Remedios): no complaints there but he and Eva did not strike sparks in the way she did with Sachs.
Bert, there is always a problem with women apprentices as that's the way Wagner wrote the music. If they used trebles and countertenors there would be too many on the stage.Comment
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Oh, I know how Wagner wrote the music. I merely singled out that one particular lady-in-drag because she was (a) of rather advanced years to be a prentice (of whatever gender) and (b) embarrassingly over-fond of mistaking pulling faces for acting.Originally posted by Chris Newman View Post
BertComment
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Nobody has mentioned Johannes Martin Kränzle's Beckmesser yet: for me, that was one of the standout performances, beautifully sung (without caricature), and some wonderful physical acting. I haven't seen the Guardian's webstream yet: I'll catch up with it later in the week - but we did see it live, on the (very cold and windy) last Sunday in May. This afternoon's picnic must have been a very different experience... And yes, Bert, I think I know the apprentice you mean!Comment
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Yes, Kränzle was very fine as Beckmesser. Like Derek Hammond-Stroud in Reginald Goodall's Sadler's Wells version and Chris Purves (recently at WNO) he brought out the pathos in the role by avoiding over-egging the comedy, and singing well. When done well Beckmesser's misplaced pride makes him just slightly lovable: I have seen some who really deserve everything they get. The rejected reconciliation with Sachs was saddening but in character. On my DVD Hermann Prey accepts the gesture and stays on stage. Both ways work. Some critics said Kränzle looked like Meyerbeer. His preening manner reminded me of Wilde.
Another little touch of humour was at the end of the second act you see Beckmesser stagger past the Nightwatchman (beautifully sung by Mats Elmgren by the way) whose look seems to suggest "Shouldn't you be in bed, Herr Town Clerk?", the stage empties and some apprentices appear with Beckmesser's wig on a pole and perch it on the tall statue in the centre of the town square.
I must look out for this dragon amongst the apprentices tomorrow.Comment
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Hey, I didn't say she was a dragon, just a wildly OTT village-hall-type.Originally posted by Chris Newman View Post
And of course she, like some of the others, wasn't well served by the usual close-up TV style. To be fair though my impression was that there were more centre-stalls general views of the entire stage than one sometimes gets: excellent. It would be pleasing to see this done more often, and even more pleasing to see a continuous locked-off shot of the whole stage offered as an alternative on DVD releases.
Overall, what a delightful show. A midsummer treat.Comment
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I feel puzzled: I seem to be the only one who did not warm to Finley's Sachs.
To be honest, he sounded vocally some way out of his depth - top was particularlt fragile compared to a number of Sachs i have heard - and that fast vibrato under pressure was a bit of a giveaway.
McVicar had taken a very high risk route getting Sachs to emote and rant and hand-wring, generally pacing like a caged shire horse - Finley is not a good mover - but at least he didn't bump into the furniture. Have to say that Jurowski was wonderfully supportive and there was excellent symbiosis between pit and stage to underline producer's notions - band in top notch form. Loved the sets - beautifully crammed with detail, and Eva / Walther were more than useful. Excellent detail in the Prize Scene - faces of some of the Masters were straight out of every PC meeting I've ever been to.Comment
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It did bother me slightly that Finley's Sachs seemed to be about the shortest person on stage, and, to be personal, he or his video director should avoid full-face shots: those eyes are far too close together for benevolence. The hand-wringing (and the dropping of his speech in act three) aren't usual, but it's a more-or-less valid interpretation without going down some of the extreme routes we've seen before now: try Katherina Wagner's Bayreuth production...
...and be doubly grateful for Glyndebourne!Last edited by Bert Coules; 27-06-11, 14:16.Comment
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Oh dear, my italics joke did not work: dragon ... I guess I must drag on.
I agree the show was a treat though. I shall watch it again ... in instalments.Comment
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Chris, sorry about that: I saw but I didn't observe... Clever!Comment
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Aaarg! Those Bayreuth photos are horrendous!!
I am truly very grateful to Glyndebourne, Bert.
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