The Mastersingers at Covent Garden

[makropulos]

I enjoyed it. Pappano's conducting of the score was beautifully paced, and far warmer and more affectionate than Jurowski's cold, deadpan version at Glyndebourne. I agree that John Tom is not so good to listen to on the radio now, though I suspect seeing him in the theatre would compensate for the vocal deficiencies to a fair extent. Koch seemed OK, if not very characterful. I thought O'Neill sounded pretty good for someone who had bronchitis - certainly a lot better than his counterpart at Glyndebourne who wasn't ill!

So did I - very much - and for the same reasons as RobertLeDiable, above all for Pappano's lovely conducting. Koch was perfectly okay, and while some of the other voices weren't ideal, the characterization of the whole thing came across to me, at least, as splendidly warm-hearted. The chorus and orchestra were both tremendous - as they need to be for Meistersinger. I thought it was a lovely way to enjoy New Year's Day.

[Chris Newman]

I have only had time for Act One so far. Enjoyed Sir Tony's contribution very much with some delightful details from all sections of the orchestra. I hope in future Toby Spence will not push the top notes so unnecessarily hard; enjoy his David, though it is cooler and less filled with charm than I would have expected.

[underthecountertenor]

Well I was there, and either DracoM et al are being extraordinarily uncharitable (New Year's Resolution anyone?) or the Radio 3 microphones were cruel. O'Neill's singing was not the most ingratiating, but I've heard a lot worse from singers in rude health (though admittedly his more prominent contributions to the quintet were sadly strained). Koch became ever warmer and authoritative as the performance went on: a hugely intelligent performance. Tomlinson did what Tomlinson does. Chorus and orchestra were outstanding. Overall it was an exceptionally moving performance, at least in the opera house. I'm only sorry IF that didn't come over on the radio.

[Nick Armstrong]

the Radio 3 microphones were cruel

I think that's it. After a number of recent experiences, where I was able to contrast personal 'in the hall' experience with a recorded relay on Radio 3, I have come to the conclusion that the mikes used by R3 are doing something to voices. The most recent example for me was Renée Fleming just before Christmas.... Sounded great from the stalls - totally different and much worse on the recording from the live broadcast.

I turned on this Meistersinger but switched off again after hearing a female soloist wobbling her way blowsily through an aria... And time after time recently, I have found myself more and more disliking the singing, especially female, heard on the radio. I thought it was me becoming more and more intolerant. But maybe it's not, maybe the R3 microphones are doing horrible things to the singers. King's Choir on Christmas Eve was another example - the TV carol service made them sound like a different, far better choir than on the live radio relay.

Then again, I listened last week to Christine Schäfer's recital - absolute heaven, proper singing!!! But...! It was a recital from the Schwetzingen Festival, so presumably it was recorded not by BBC microphones but by the German broadcaster?

Are Radio 3 using dodgy kit?

I think I'm going to give up listening to BBC vocal recordings...

[rank_and_file]

underthecountertenor

For what it is worth, here is The Telegraph review online, albeit dated 20 December, but appearing in the newspaper today (3rd January).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/8968830/Die-Meistersinger-von-Nurnberg-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-review.html#disqus_thread

Glad I missed out on an expensive ticket as I am not into Legoland. Directors' productions have saved me a fortune over the years!

[Nick Armstrong]

Directors' productions have saved me a fortune over the years!

Same here Never a truer word written on these boards, rank!

[underthecountertenor]

Yes, thanks rank: I saw that when it first went up online in December. I think the cast had perhaps bedded down by New Year's Day (I hardly ever go to the first night of a revival as it is usually underrehearsed). I really liked the production when it first appeared and on the first revival, but it is now looking rather tired and ho-hum (again possibly partly the fault of the revival director). The crit of Koch is very unfair, in my view. It's nice to see a Sachs of gentle humanity, as opposed to Tomlinson (opera's answer to Brian Blessed) and Terfel (who imposes his own personality far too much on the role and who, if I remember rightly, failed to pace himself at the Prom so that he was sounding pretty sung out by Act III). Koch's tone was unfailingly beautiful, and his nicely understated characterisation warmed the cockles of this old heart at least.
Christiansen has been particularly miserable of late, it must be said: his review of the Domingo celebration woefully missed the point as a result.
Bws
UtCT

[rank_and_file]

Interesting points you make, perhaps also proving that there is no substitute for the visceral excitement of one being at a live performance compared to listening on the radio.

As you probably know - and this might support Caliban’s comment to an extent - if listening in FM everything goes through the Optimod frequency compressor: climaxes reduced, quiet passages increased and, in my opinion at least, a washing out of a fair chunk of the musical impact. However, Caliban’s point was more of the microphones inability to pick up the fidelity of the voice, and instruments and I think the Optimod comes in at the end of the chain, so the effect will be the same on any original source, BBC or not.

You praise Koch but at Wahn, Wahn Uberall Wahn I thought he could not project a decent legato line of any strength (woe I thought!) - and would agree with Christiansen’s general comment on Koch - but, of course, I wasn’t there at either performance. It is hard to name a great Sachs now, and I go back to people like Schoeffler and Schorr - I picked this rather bass heavy 1929 Friedrich Schorr example about a year ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LXQJnHx3OM

I remember seeing Christiansen’s crit of the Domingo celebration. Was he not trying to say that if we were there to thank and pay tribute then perhaps Domingo should have chosen less taxing pieces? Probably misses your point, but at least Janet Baker picked the right time to leave the opera stage!

[Richard Tarleton]

More excitement last night - Peter Coleman-Wright (Beckmesser) had lost his voice that morning and management had spent the day ringing round. After almost being about to cancel (according to the stage announcement before curtain up) they got Christopher Purves to sing the part from the side of the stage while P C-W acted it. This worked very well - Purves sang very nicely from the score on a music stand, standing unobtrusively by the pillar at the side of the stage. He had a very appreciative curtain-call.

I liked Wolfgang Koch's Sachs - gentle humanity as rank and file says, and much preferable to JT's coarse interpretation of the role last time round. The finest live Sachs I've heard was Jose van Dam with the Zurich Opera in a concert performance at the RFH, who sounded an older more world weary Sachs. But yes they're hard to find, and I've probably said enough elsewhere about my views of Bryn T.

There was a lot of new stage business since the last revival especially in the first part of Act 3, which I thought worked very well.

I like the way that (for Wagner at least) Covent Garden audiences seem to calibrate their applause quite precisely. Big ovations for Sachs and David, generous for Eva, polite only for Walter - whose tenor I didn't warm to even allowing for the aftermath of his illness, huge for Sir Tony and the orchestra, and also (reflecting respect) for John T (who made up for any vocal raggedness with vigorous acting, even if he made more of Pogner than was strictly necessary - he looked as if he were going to have a seizure when Walter rejected the chain, leaving Eva looking as if she were going to have to call a doctor).

A couple of Wagner stage directions were ignored - the most vital, the mastersingers are supposed to drop the poem that Sachs has handed them to follow after the first verse of the prize song, so absorbed are they by Walter's singing - this Walter notices, which frees him up to sing an even better version than that written down in Sachs' workshop. This plot device of Wagner's was to avoid the audience having to sit through the same song twice. Also Eva did not take Walter's victory wreath and place it on Sachs' head - instead we had JT rushing at Walter to have another go, this time successful, at putting the Mastersingers' chain round his neck (but looking for all the while as if he were going to hit him).

But compared to what goes on at Bayreuth these days, these were tiny details in what was a most wonderful evening. For my money this ranks with the Visconti Don Carlo as one of the all-time great ROH productions.

[Flosshilde]

Directors' productions have saved me a fortune over the years!

Um, what other sort is there?


I thought that Simon O'Neill sounded more as if he was singing Siegfried - as if he was having to sing over music that was much louder than it actually was - an impression supported rather by the reviewer's comment that "Simon O’Neill is a heroic rather than lyrical tenor".

[gradus]

I enjoyed what I heard on R3 - the first two acts. I initially thought that Sachs was being sung by Tomlinson so should listen more carefully in future. There seemed to me to some lovely woodwind and string playing particularly in that sublime passage that used to be known as Pogner's Address, in the course of which he announces that Eva is the prize in the song contest - that doesn't quite right but you know what I mean - and I felt that JT really got to the heart of the music.
Slightly off-topic but could I second the praise from earlier in the thread for Christine Schafer's recital from Schwetzingen broadcast last week. I don't think they come much better than that.

[Nick Armstrong]

Slightly off-topic but could I second the praise from earlier in the thread for Christine Schafer's recital from Schwetzingen broadcast last week. I don't think they come much better than that.

I keep thinking about it and and have listened to it again twice. What a wonderful musician she is, and Erich Schneider the pianist. Wish one could still download things permanently from iPlayer.

[Don Basilio]

I was there. Nobody has mentioned Robert Lloyd as the Nightwatchman. I had tears in my eyes as he sang. Toby Spence was good, but it occurred to me that the character of David has more sex appeal than Walther (and certainly more energy) in the first place.

[rank_and_file]

Reading in The Spectator of 26 November, Michael Tanner’s review of the ENO’s Eugene Onegin, an extract reads:

“The one thoroughly convincing portrayal was Toby Spence’s Lensky, more Chekhovian than Pushkinian, but then so is most of the opera. Spence looked the part, his voice is in great condition, and his pre-duel farewell to life was perhaps the most moving part of the whole work.”

So, with Meistersinger as well, glad to see he is having a good run.

Flosshilde
My sloppy prose about directors productions. But, you know what I mean - the directors who know far better than composer and libretto and produce outrageous interpretations serving themselves rather than the composer.

[Richard Tarleton]

My sloppy prose about directors productions. But, you know what I mean - the directors who know far better than composer and libretto and produce outrageous interpretations serving themselves rather than the composer.

Indeed. Richard Jones to name but three. Wagner suffers more than most.