Richard WAGNER (1813-1883)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Hans Sachs – Josef Greindl (bass)
Walther von Stolzing – Wolfgang Windgassen (tenor)
Eva – Elisabeth Grümmer (soprano)
David – Gerhard Stolze (tenor)
Magdalena – Elisabeth Schärtel (soprano)
Pogner – Theo Adam (bass)
Beckmesser – Karl Schmitt-Walter (baritone)
Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele/Hans Knappertsbusch
rec. live, mono, Bayreuth Festival, 23 July 1960
ORFEO C917154L [4 CDs: 78:15 + 77:53 + 48:19 + 76:02]
This recording captures the opening night of the 1960 Bayreuth
Festival in Wieland's (in)famous "Mastersingers without Nuremberg"
production. The staging demands of this opera seem to have eluded even him,
and there are several production photographs in Orfeo's booklet to
illustrate it, though you only rarely get a glimpse of Wieland's big
picture. The big draw, however, was not on the stage but in the pit. Orfeo
have released this performance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
death of legendary Wagner conductor Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965). "Kna",
as he was known, was never comfortable in the recording studio, and all of
his finest opera recordings were made live, most famously the Parsifals
of 1951 and 1962, also at Bayreuth. In Ring Resounding, Decca's
(equally legendary) record producer, John Culshaw, talks of how difficult
it was to get Knappertsbusch to accept the conditions of the studio - when
recording excerpts from Tristan, for example, he refused to listen
to the playbacks - and the spontaneity of the live occasion suited him much
better. You can hear that here. He repeatedly gets caught up in the excitement
of the moment, lingering lovingly on a phrase or pushing ahead as the mood
takes him. It's right there in the Overture, which tends to slow down
as it progresses, so that the final pages are perhaps a little too stately.
Anyone who were to follow him with a metronome would be thoroughly upset,
and the ensemble regularly, albeit briefly, falls apart; but there is magic
aplenty on display in, for example, Pogner's Act 1 narration, or the
expansive depiction of Midsummer's Night in Act 2.
The Sachs of Josef Greindl is the highlight of the singing cast. Even in his
Act 1 moments, particularly when he urges giving due consideration to Walther's
song, he manages a magnificent combination of worldly wisdom, weariness and
warm humanity, all the while managing to sound about as lyrical and beautiful
as you could hope for in this part. His Fliedermonolog is deeply
reflective and enormously moving, and there is a glint of mischief in his
voice during the Act 2 skirmish the Beckmesser. The great monologues of the
third act are all superb, be it the weariness of Wahn, the deeply
moving quality of his address to the people after Wach Auf, or the
slightly finger-wagging final pages. Hearing this performance makes you regret
that Greindl never set down the role in the more friendly conditions of the
studio.
Wolfgang Windgassen is a surprisingly wonderful Walther. The voice is warm
and lyrical, honeyed even, without a hint of Heldentenor strain, and if you
didn't already know that he was the finest Siegfried of his day then
you wouldn't be able to guess from this performance. The voice begins
to take flight even as he describes his training, and during his Trial Song
he gets caught up in wave upon wave of emotion. He is impetuous and hot-blooded
during the second act and, even if he is not the final word in lyricism, his
Prize Song should win over any sceptics. Equally surprisingly, Gerhard Stolze,
the finest German character tenor of his generation, puts in an appearance
as David. However, his voice is so distinctive that he seldom sounds like
anything other than a Niebelung-in-training, and he undeniably sounds too
old, with little of David's youthful innocence. Too much irony, on
the whole.
Elisabeth Grümmer is a marvellous Eva. She moves from flirtatious to feisty
during her Act 2 duet with Sachs, and she rings with beautiful clarity in
the third act, crowning the quintet with a gorgeous top line. Likewise, Elisabeth
Schärtel is an unusually characterful Magdalena, making the most of all her
appearances.
Karl Schmitt-Walter is also very winning as Beckmesser. There is never a hint
of unnecessary caricature: instead he really sings the part even when being
thoroughly malicious, as after the Trial Song. Several little touches (such
as yawning at Walther's description of his training) reveal him to
have been a very fine actor. There is a recurring hint of caricature about
him, though, which develops worryingly into the second and third acts. I wonder
whether seeing him in Wieland’s production would have made him look
like a less appealing character than he sounds?
As Pogner, Theo Adam has done nothing better on disc. His voice sounds authoritative,
but also uncommonly warm and remarkably lyrical for a singer who is often
criticised for having too much grit in the voice. The other masters are equally
marvellous, with a great sense of cooperation and pulling together. I especially
enjoyed the self-important Kothner of Ludwig Weber.
The mono sound is remarkably good for its age, though the orchestra is much
too recessed compared to the forward, bright voices. However, there remains
the perennial problem that the Bayreuth acoustic simply doesn't suit
Meistersinger, even in stereo, so anyone who seeks out this recording
will do so mainly because it captures several
legends in full flow. For that, at least, we should be grateful.
Simon Thompson
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