Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
James Levine
This run of Meistersinger at the Met is, I gather, the final outing for the 20-year old Otto Schenk production, before the Met imports Stefan Herheim's quirky, Hoffmann-esque production from Salzburg, but the real appeal (other than the work itself) was to see and hear James Levine back in the pit where he has reigned for so long. With all due respect to Fabio Luisi, he's never been a match to Levine in good form, and nor have most of the other conductors I've heard at the Met over the years of Levine's health problems. He has a very special relationship with that institution and its orchestra, and whoever inherits his baton, when it does finally change hands definitively, is going to have some extremely large shoes to fill.
His contribution to the overall standard of today's performance was certainly primordial; the orchestra in Wagner is all-important, and they really made their presence felt today, delivering a wealth of detail and emotion. The chorus too was in fine form, which is particularly important in Meistersinger. There was a tiny bit of slippage in the Act 2 riot (although, honestly, I've never heard it without, not live), and the sopranos were just a touch short on the top C of "die heil'ge deutsche Kunst" right at the end, but they were otherwise a vibrant, colourful presence throughout.
Schenk's production is what you would expect from him, at the Met, in the 80s; large and lavish. Most of the time, it was perfectly acceptable, being wholly traditional, but I did have a problem with the Act 2 set. At first sight, it's very striking, a long cobbled alley in ranks of shallow steps stretching out towards the rear of the set with a strong perspective effect. Very nice, and quite adequate for most of the act, until it came to the riot in the closing minutes, because with all those risers, the chorus could not really move. There were a few individuals scuffling around in the foreground, but most of the singers were stuck there on the side, singing, but not able to simulate a free-for-all, because that kind of activity on those steps would surely lead to injury. The end result was decidedly static, not at all the kind of rough-and-tumble suggested in the music, and it rather undercut the joyous mayhem of the moment.
This was, on the whole, a very strong cast. The Masters were uniformly excellent, clearly delineated in their characters, all singing (as did everyone else too) with very good diction, making what is, after all, a very wordy text remarkably intelligible throughout. Johannes Martin Kränzle was a very earnest Beckmesser - his timbre is a little darker than I prefer in this role, but that's no reflection on the fine quality of his singing, and his interpretation stayed on the right side of caricature at all the important points. His scene with Sachs in the first scene of Act 3 in particular was outstanding.
Paul Appleby's David was bright and earnest, and he oversang just a little in the Act 1 monologue, but got things back under control after that. Karen Cargill's rich mezzo sounded lovely; she was perhaps a trifle matronly as Magdalene, but it's easy to do in that part. Annette Dasch was a sweet-toned Eva, but she wore such a worried expression for about 80% of her time on-stage, it provoked a vague sense of worry in me, quite needlessly. I concede that Eva's concerned for her own future, but if that was the motivation, Dasch was overdoing it. If she's not aware, someone needs to tell her to relax a little.
After his rather inert Otello two years ago, I was a bit doubtful about Johan Botha's potential contribution, but that too was a needless concern. He presented a considerably livelier figure here; while he doesn't exactly have an ideal leading-man physique, he still managed to communicate plenty of youthful ardour. His German is a bit nasal and pinched, but the voice nevertheless rang out easily and fluidly.
Michael Volle's Sachs is a sardonic, somewhat tetchy character, but the profound humanity was there. The voice isn't the most beautiful, and once or twice I missed a certain sheer quality of tone - notably in the Act 2 monologue, that glorious phrase on "Lenzes gebot, die süsse Not", which demands the warmest, most honeyed sound the singer can produce, and which was a little lacking. However, the expression generally, combined with the crystal clear German, was more than enough to make him a persuasive interpreter of the role, and dramatically he was very good. The expression on his face as Beckmesser commenced mangling his prize song was priceless. All in all, a strong performance that made the six hours spent in the cinema pass as quickly and easily as half that spent watching any other opera.
[Next : 8th January]
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