BWW Reviews: No Gods but Plenty of Masters in DIE MEISTERSINGER at the Met

I never ran a marathon, but I sure sat through one the other night at the Met. Richard Wagner's DIE MEISTERSINGER clocked in at six hours--a quarter of a day--without a god or flying horse in sight. And while the composer referred to this as a comedy, it's not exactly "I Love Lucy" (nor, for that matter, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO).

The longest opera

Even without gods in MEISTERSINGER, Wagner managed to write the longest opera in the major repertoire, according to the Guinness Book of Records: over five hours without intermissions. (Act III runs about 2-1/4 hours on its own.)

It's the story of a young nobleman, Walther von Stolzing, who arrives in Nuremberg (where Jews were expelled in 1499 and home of the Nazi trials after World War II), falls for Eva, a young girl, then enters a singing contest to win her hand. The contest is sponsored by the town's mastersingers (the Meistersinger of the title), a guild of working class men with strict rules surrounding the creation of "Master songs," the only songs allowed in the contest. But Walther isn't the center of the opera. That falls to Hans Sachs, the voice of reason against Sixtus Beckmesser, the town clerk also enamored of Eva and the object of much derision.

Light on plot, heavy on details

To say that the opera is a little light on plot and heavy on details would be an understatement. That's not to say that there isn't much great music in the piece--including Walther's prize song and Sachs's meditation on human folly in Act III--and, certainly, some wonderful performances on this evening. However, this was a challenge even, dare I say, for Maestro James Levine, whose stamina is not what it once was, thanks to his health problems.

But there were some god-like performances, in the form of baritone Michael Volle as Hans Sachs, tenor Johan Botha as Walther von Stolzing and, making his Met debut, baritone Johannes Martin Krazle as Beckmesser. Volle, who made his Met debut just last season in ARABELLA, is justly famous for his Sachs and his performance here was just a prelude to a new production the Met will mount with him in a coming season. (He also sings the Live in HD broadcast on Saturday.)

Gorgeously sung

Volle's easy manner and refined voice was in major contrast to most of the other Meistersinger (though I understand this is not quite the tradition). His Act III monologue, "Wahn," was gorgeously sung. As Walther, South African Botha, showed endless vocal resources that poured out without effort, though his acting abilities left something to be desired. He is from the stand-up-and-sing school of opera and, well, that was just what he did, to great effect. In his debut season at the Met, German Krazle was impressive as the blowhard villain of the piece. He managed to ably pull off one of those very tricky feats: singing well while pretending to sing badly, with impeccable comic timing.

The two major roles for women in the opera seemed rather wan, though nicely sung, as handled by soprano Annette Dasch (Eva) and mezzo Karen Cargill (her companion). However, in the smaller but key role of David, Sachs's apprentice, tenor Paul Appleby showed a surprisingly big voice, broad resources and a winning manner. (I look forward to his performance as Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS later this season.)

The last round-up

This is supposedly the final go-around for this classic gingerbread-style Otto Schenk production, staged by Paula Suozzi, with sets by Gunther Schneider-Siemssen, costumes by Rolf Langenfass, lighting by Gil Wechsler and choreography by Carmen De Lavallade. It has many fans--and I particularly liked the scene in Act III, at Sachs's workshop--but I look forward to seeing a production that doesn't look like it dates back to Wagner's lifetime.

The Met's Live in HD series will simulcast the matinee on December 13 to 2000 theatres in 68 countries around the world.

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Photo: Left to right, Annette Dasch as Eva, Michael Volle as Hans Sachs, and Johan Botha as Walther, with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.

Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

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