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Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition]

 
Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition]
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Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition]  (Audio CD) 
by Derek Hammond-Stroud

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Product Details:
Audio CD Release Date: July 29, 2008
Studio: Chandos
Composer: Richard Wagner
Conductor: Reginald Goodall
Orchestra: Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra
Number Of Discs: 4
Average Customer Rating: based on 1 reviews
Track Listing:
Disc: 1
1. Prelude
2. Act 1. As to thee our Saviour came
3. Act 1. Oh stay! A word! one single word!
4. Act 1. David, come on, lend a hand!
5. Act 1. My Lord! The Mastersinger's way
6. Act 1. What's this that you've done?
7. Act 1. Be well assured of my good favour
8. Act 1. Now to a trial, as summoned hither
9. Act 1. The feast of John, Midsummer day
10. Act 1. (Just as I thought!)
11. Act 1. By silent hearth, one winter's day
12. Act 1. To make your footsteps safe and sure
Disc: 2
1. Act 1. "Now begin!" So cried the sun the with the land!
2. Act 1. Then have you finished?
3. Act 1. Stay, Masters! Why so much haste?
4. Act 2. Prelude
5. Act 2. Midsummer day! Midsummer day!
6. Act 2. We'll see if Master Sachs is there
7. Act 2. A pretty secret, that!
8. Act 2. The elder's scent, how tender
9. Act 2. Good evening, Master!
10. Act 2. He's here now!
11. Act 2. What? Sachs? He too?
12. Act 2. Jerum! Jerum! Hal-la-hal-lo-he! O-ho!
13. Act 2. I see now dawning daylight
14. Act 2. The devil take your song, accursed rogue!
Disc: 3
1. Act 3. Prelude
2. Act 3. Here, master, here!
3. Act 3. Fools! Fools! Ev'rywhere fools
4. Act 3. My friend, good morning!
5. Act 3. My friend, in joyful days of youth
6. Act 3. Warm in the sunlight, at dawning of day
7. Act 3. Interlude
8. Act 3. A Trial Song by Sachs! Is it true?
9. Act 3. It was here, the paper!
10. Act 3. Here's Eva! I had wondered where she was!
11. Act 3. "Lured from their dances, the stars glided down"
12. Act 3. The life of a cobbler's nothing but woe!
13. Act 3. O Sachs! My friend! So kind thou art!
Disc: 4
1. Act 3. A child has been created
2. Act 3. Radiant as the dawning that enchants my sight
3. Act 3. Now, Walther come! You must be brave!
4. Act 3. Saint Crispin, Saint Crispin!
5. Act 3. You dance? Look out if the Masters see you!
6. Act 3. Entrance of the Mastersingers - "Silentium! Silentium!"
7. Act 3. Awake! The dawn of day draws near
8. Act 3. Words light to you
9. Act 3. "Bathing in sunlight at dawning of day"
10. Act 3. "Warm in the sunlight, at dawning of day"
11. Act 3. The witness has been duly tried
12. Act 3. Do not disdain our Masters thus
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review: 4.0
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

4'Meistersinger' in English: Good News, Bad News -- Mostly GoodAug 03, 2008
This is a much-talked-about live recording, long thought lost, of a BBC broadcast in 1968 of an English-language production of Wagner's 'Die Meistersinger' from the Sadler's Wells Opera (now called the English National Opera). It was conducted by Reginald Goodall who was all but unknown then but who soon became known and much lauded for his conducting of Wagner's operas. It has an all-English cast, all but one of whom were singing their roles for the first time; the exception was Norman Bailey, who had sung Hans Sachs in Germany (in German, of course).

First, the bad news: Sound quality is not the best. There is some tape hiss, occasional poor balances, a good deal of stage noise (my goodness, you can really hear a lot of clumping around in the last act entrance of the apprentices!), and somewhat dodgy stereo separation. Early on Norman Bailey's voice is rather woolly, although it improves and his vocal acting is marvelous. Margaret Curphey's Eva can turn acidulous, but she is terrific in the last act Quintet. There are some cuts -- primarily a verse from David's first act catalog of tones and from Beckmesser's second act song. The orchestral playing is not always as suave as one might hope. And, of course, there will be those who will be put off by this quintessentially German opera being sung in English. And indeed the translation, by Frederick Jameson (with some changes by Norman Feasey and Gordon Kember) has a few thee's and thou's that make it sound a bit old-fashioned. Still it is an effective translation and it sings well.

Any negatives are outweighed by the good things in the recording. Bailey's Sachs is effective -- and he has the best diction of anyone in the cast; he is human, affecting, suitably humorous, gruff, tender or serious as needed. The David of Gregory Dempsey is one the best I've ever heard. Derek Hammond-Stroud plays Beckmesser as a bit of a caricature, but he sings the music rather than sketching it as many Beckmessers do. Alberto Remedios is one of the best Walthers on record. His tone is meltingly lyrical and he is actually able to sing softly when required, unlike some. He is ardent, heroic, and naïve in turn. His Prize Song is magical, aided significantly by Goodall's rapturously paced conducting. Noel Mangin's Pogner is excellent in his long aria. The rest of the mastersingers are at least adequate or, as in the case of David Bowman as Kothner, much better. Ann Robson is a younger-sounding Magdalene and she sings well. Stafford Dean, then quite young, is a marvelous Nightwatchman. The chorus is sterling from their very first notes at the end of the overture to the paean to Sachs that closes the opera.

The real hero of this performance is Goodall. This is a leisurely-paced 'Mastersingers' but there is never a lull or longueur. Rhythms are well-sprung and the quieter or more lyrical moments are breathtaking, as in the Act III prelude or the ecstatic last act Quintet. He can build up real excitement, too, as in the overture and the third act entrance of the apprentices and mastersingers, not to speak of the riot that ends Act II.

The boxed 4CD set is being offered for the price of 3CDs and it includes a complete libretto. This will probably not be anyone's only 'Meistersinger', but it certainly belongs on the shelves of those who love this opera and have other recordings of it.

Scott Morrison

 
 
 
 
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