Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg / Heppner, Mattila, Morris, Pape, Allen, Polenzani, Levine, Metropolitan Opera

This is a truly excellent example of one of the greatest operas reproduced in stunning sound and visuals. Levine and the Met orchestra get the tempo just right, and they sound superb. What is also amazing is the quality of the vocal sound, which is captured in great detail, when clearly there is not a microphone in sight. The soloists are excellent...the one that stands out for me is Beckmesser who is usually a caricature clown...whereas the part is played straight and very convincingly. The Mastersingers are all first rate. Hans Sachs is cast with a natural modern look, and unlike the usual god-like Wotan. Perhaps the only criticism is that both Walther and Eva look middle-aged at best, and while their singing voices are good, they are unable to bring the sense of romance to the opera that would be more convincing with younger artists. The great advantage of the DVD media over the earlier CD versions (I loved the Karajan 1952 Bayreuth version best), is that not only do you have the option of helpful subtitles, but you can also see the excellent detail in the staging that fills the lack of action with incredible detail. It is never boring. Most of the stage settings look like a Rembrandt painting. I just wish that one of the optional subtitles was the detail of the orchestral score. Highly recommended on all counts.

I missed my bus and had to kill four hours back when I was around 20 years old, so I went to the library media room and decided to satisfy the curiosity a friend had engendered in me regarding Wagner's Ring cycle, so I listened to Die Valkure, reading along with the libretto and was hooked, big time. Over decades of listening to the darker of Wagner's works I remain loyal to the music, though the angst can become somewhat tedious at times, especially when the performance and production are lacking. Don't get me started on the MET's new 'machine'. Then gradually I became aware of Die Meistersinger and it has been growing on me ever since. It's Wagner, believe it or not, with hardly a cloud in the sky and it is pure joy. We're not talking intense, heart wrenching drama here, in fact the storyline is quite pedestrian, but the music is glorious. This is fairly late in Wagner's career and I can't help but think that this was his love poem to music. In fact, making music is the theme around which the story revolves. When I've fallen in love with an opera through listening, I am always a bit cautious about watching a performance. A poor realization can actually have quite damaging impact. I saw clips of this performance on YouTube and I was sold. The performance is really well cast and the singing and acting are great. The quintet in the third act is to die for - perfectly rendered, and the finale is glorious. James Levine at his best. I'm not a big fan of massive stage sets but even this one works for me.

I own about 75 Opera DVD's. This Met production of Die Meistersinger is one of the best. Up till now I have found the Met's Wagner DVD's to be rather undramatic. This Meistersinger comes as a wonderful surprise!It is a lovely traditional production that avoids being stodgy. The singers are actually acting, looking like they are having a good time, and they are actually funny!!!This Miestersinger is a joy! I havntecountered a better sung Meistersinger since the old mono Kempe recording from the 50's. This is a well nigh perfect cast.I will single out two wonderful performances. Heppner is the only Walter I have encountered on stage or on DVD who is truly up to the part of Walther.He is as fresh in the third act as he is in the first. Almost all tenors peter out by the third act and croak out a facsimile of the prize song.James Morris is a singer usually rather dislike. I don't like the sound of his voice and I find him dull. Here he seems to have found a role that really suits him. He seems enlivened by the role of Hans Sachs, he really takes to the "everyman" that is Sachs. His voice also fits this commoner more readily then the God Wotan. This is by a wide margin the best Met Wagner Opera DVD, certainly better sung and staged then the two other Meistersinger DVD's now on the market.

As an old Wagner dog of 60 years standing, I have to say this is an extraordinary DVD, and must have been one of the great nights at the new Met. Only the fact that Heppner looks, as one wag has put it, like Wallace Beery in drag, detracts (but he sounds glorious! and acts well enough)--and, well, the close-up camera occasionally reveals that the otherwise beautiful Mattila is perhaps not exactly 18. She, too, sings like an angel, and acts with great specificity. The actor par excellence is Thomas Allen, as Beckmesser, who is simply amazing, and he too is in fine voice, even commanding a high A towards the end of his role. Polanzani, as David, is also excelleent, though again perhaps not exactly appearing the age of his part. The central figure, however, is absolutely magisterial: Morris looks, acts, and sings exactly as one dreams Sachs might. He still has all the voice to command, and it is clearly the best heldenbariton since Hotter, his teacher in Wagnerian roles, and in fact I find it a bigger, warmer and more moving voice, qua voice, than his predecessor's. His interpretation is deeply moving. Levine conducts a glowing performance--you know it's going to be that way just from watching the sheer joy he derives from leading the orchestra through the Act one prelude. The camera work is unexceptionable, and I have very glad to have these images of a solid, traditonal staging--no Eurotrash here.

This performance of Mastersinger is GREAT! When PBS broadcast this in my area they squeezed the picture up to the top and put the subtitles in the black area at the bottom. I'm at war with PBS for this reason. And I didn't buy this for a long time thinking the disc would be treated the same way. This program is full screen, and comes out correctly proportioned on my widescreen TV. The image is sharp and clear and a delight to watch. The Met staging is beautiful. Nothing modern, not brought up to date as some other productions I have seen. They're on YouTube, and so is this, and after seeing that not all recordings of this opera got the PBS treatment, I had to have it. When the MET does a traditional production you can count on them to do a great job. I've read other reviews of this and other operas I own, and I guess that I love Wagner's operas so much that I don't get overly critical about the singers. Face it, if they're singing at the Met, they can sing. Your only going to get perfection with a studio recording, and I still enjoy the Decca Solti Ring cycle, on CD or reel to reel tape. The Bayreuth production of Mastersinger is good, and it is traditional production too, but the Met's larger stage allows this production to shine. The DTS 5.1 audio is to die for. I'm so glad I finally bought it. I'll have to set aside 292 minutes again to sit down and closely watch and enjoy this "great performance" again.

I cannot claim the knowledge of opera and the tenors, basses, and sopranos shown by other reviewers. My limited knowledge includes playing Aufzug die Meistersinger in junior high school orchestra in 1959. I suppose I have always like Wagner. I also like happy endings. This show synthesizes the story, the music, the voices, the staging, the costumes, and the video production into an incredible work of art. The Met has so much talent on which to draw in every artistic discipline. It is certain that the stars aligned for this show! Forget that you read that the treatment of Beckmesser is viewed by some as anti-Semetic. Forget that Adolf Hitler allegedly liked it. Forget any nit-picking reviews. In my opinion, this production of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg is a must-have. Morris' rendition of Hans Sachs is something to behold. I wish my city and state and nation had someone of his stature to respect. Mattila's voice and her interpretation of Eva is magnificent. The perspective of a video is so much different from that of live theater. I cannot sit in the first balcony with 10x50 binoculars to see every whisker and line in the faces and every nuance of expression. The video, with many close-ups, brings that to me. When you can see every movement of the face and eyes, the ability of the principals to act, not just sing, is magnified many times. I have to give Morris and especially Mattila the highest scores for their acting as well as their singing prowess. My two years of German was over 40 years ago, so I had to have subtitles. It was slightly disappointing that there was action on the stage that was not reflected in the English subtitles. Next time, I'll watch it with German subtitles and hopefully see what I missed. Be prepared to devote half a day to watching this performance. The production runs just a few minutes short of five hours with no breaks. I believe that if you enjoy good music, good singing, and happy endings, you will not be disappointed. Feel free applaud with the house audience at the final curtain calls.

The production values were very fine indeed, especially considering that the recording was of a live stage performance. The orchestra, singers and chorus were first-rate in bringing to light a very challenging score. My only reservation is that the production faced a virtually unavoidable problem: modern technology permits the viewer to see the performers close up, in a way that was not generally possible back in the "good old days" of opera houses. Thus, Heppner and Mattila, both excellent performers, looked way too old for their roles - and, with Heppner, too corpulent. This matters, at least to me, when they are seen seemingly just a few feet away from us in our living room. Part of it is also Wagner's fault. His vocal requirements have favored - no, mandated - top-notch singers with appropriately "mature" voices. Singers of that type and caliber - "Wagnerian" singers - are not very plentiful, and physically attractive ones to boot, for the heroes and heroines, even less so. A related issue is also brought about by the close-up reality. For instance, Hans Sachs looked much younger than Pogner, a detail that could have been corrected by the make-up people but wasn't. On the whole, however, the issues raised were too minor to distract seriously from our enjoyment of the production.

First of all, the one strong point: Ben Heppner is an excellent singing-actor who really brings Walther von Stolzing to life. I enjoyed watching this performance because of him. He's hundreds of pounds too fat but it stopped bothering me early in the piece because his personal charisma is so compelling. He has clearly thought his role through very carefully; his acting is nuanced and also heartfelt. He's especially convincing in the Act III dialogue with Sachs just before he composes the Prize Song. Unfortunately, he pretty much has to carry the performance all by himself because the other singers deliver average performances at best. James Morris' vocal prowess is adequate but he sings quirkily, punching notes and sliding from note to note at inappropriate times, and his acting is wooden. Sachs is supposed to suffer from doubts and feelings of inadequacy, which he resolves by helping Walther, right? Morris seems to have nothing at stake in this performance. For plumbing the depth of Sachs' character Donald McIntyre's performance on video with the Australian Opera is much better. Karita Mattila is also only average as Eva, and Rene Pape (a heavily overrated basso IMHO, not in the same league as Matti Salminen or Kurt Moll or Hans Sotin) is too boring for words. Levine's conducting keeps the musicians together, but it also sprawls and lacks tightness. Another reviewer was lionizing Thomas Allen's Beckmesser, but I don't see it--to me he seems dull and not at all funny. Again, the Australian Opera gets much better character-acting from comic baritone John Pringle, while for really virtuoso, note-perfect singing of this incredibly difficult part, Eike-Wilm Schulte's performance with the DeutscheOper is the best on videotape IMHO. (Schulte is also a fine actor.) So get this for Heppner if you can spare the dough, but don't let it be your only MEISTERSINGER.