[.ca] Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg

Chronique amazon.fr:
Cet enregistrement est comme un message d'adieu de Solti à la vie, à la musique. Un symbole riche de sens : Les Maîtres Chanteurs est le seul opéra que le chef d'origine hongroise ait gravé deux fois, à un quart de siècle de distance. En vingt-cinq ans, de l'eau a coulé sous les ponts : Solti a repris goût à l'opéra de Wagner, après l'avoir longtemps tenu à l'écart de son répertoire. Cette version est décantée, musicalement sans reproche, avec ce qu'il faut de vitalité et d'humour. Superbe distribution, qui fera mentir ceux qui jurent leurs grands Dieux que l'interprétation wagnérienne est morte. --Pierre Guillaume

It's good:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this recording. Mattila can sometimes be a problem. She tends to go a bit off pitch and can become a little squally on top. That is not in evidence here. Perhaps the engineers helped her a bit. Perhaps she was just in very good voice. I don't know. Heppner is, well Heppner. And that's pretty great, in my book. Clearly of the Melchior school, and much better than in the disappointing (at least to me) Met Tristan telecast. Solti, I think, was more exciting (which is what you go to Solti for, after all) in the earlier recording. Now, here's the deal. I like the Sawallisch recording better. He is more from the "kappelmeister" school, and less of the "Übermässiger Stern", if that means anything to you. Heppner is a little freer of spirit, if that makes any sense. And Studer is more interesting than Mattila. I also prefer Weikl here to van Dam. I simply feel its a little late in the game for van Dam. Of course, that's a personal opinion. Isn't that what all music is? As for the Karajan recordings. I am awed by Karajan's talent. I love his Ring Cycle (except Rheingold). But I think he over refines "Meistersinger" and the undervoiced, overmiked and way over-recorded Kollo is always, at least for me, objectionable. Heppner is much to be preferred, in either recording. And perhaps one of the recording companies will discover the fabulous American, ROBERT DEAN SMITH, put him in front of a microphone, give him a great conductor and allow him to put to disc the greatest Walther (and Lohengrin and Parsifal and Siegmund) of this generation. Hopefully, soon.

I would any day go for...:
I find it diffecult to see what this recording should have to offer when compared to Kempe with Grummer, Frantz and the Berlin Philharmonic (excellent mono sound) or Karajan's live Bayreuth account with Schwarzkopf (the best Eve in History), Hopf, Kunz et al or, indeed, Knappertsbusch with HIS Vienna band. The singers are by all account inadequate and Solti conducts - as usual - as if he was searching for an orgasm in every bar (to quote Walter Legge.

SUBLIME AND PROFOUND:
First, I'd like to thank the reviewer below, cdsullivan, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, who took the time and energy and talent to write critiques of every CD set available of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg." I read and re-read the critiques and then decided to go, not with sullivan's top choices, but with a set that had the most up-to-date sound, singers I admired and a conductor with whom I had a "relationship:" Every year, in the spring, Sir Georg Solti brought his Chicago Symphony to Carnegie Hall for a two or three concert series. And I was there. Sitting in the "nosebleed" section of that greatest of halls, I heard my first (and some of my best) Mahler, Bartok, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Ravel. Last season, I was lucky enough to hear "Meistersinger" at the Met with both Ben Heppner and Karita Mattila. They were superb. Heppner's sweet and yet powerful voice is never strained; Mattila's innocence and purity glowed in her voice and in her person. Rene Pape is, perhaps, the finest young bass singing today: certainly his 'King Mark' in "Tristan and Isolde" will never be forgotten by Met audiences. On this recording the Chicago Symphony Chorus is, as it always was for Solti, forceful and sure. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is, as I remembered them, nothing short of tops. This sublimely and profoundly musical opera gets better and more beautiful every time I play it. And let's admit it: committing oneself to a complete performance of this opera (more than 255 minutes on this recording) takes the better part of one's waking day! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

One of the Best Meistersinger around!!:
DON'T listen to this cdsullivan. He/She is totally inconsistent in his/her recommendation of Meistersingers. Here, she praises the Kubelik, to quote "he pulls off so well you don't notice what speed they are: you only notice the music." AND "Walther, often the weak link, is here turned into one of the greatest strengths of the opera by Sándor Kónya, a little-recorded Hungarian tenor. He sings here with a youthful ardency that is enormously compelling, and his voice is a radiant outpouring of liquid gold, quite able to match the voice of his Eva in tonal beauty." But she also wrote a "So you like to buy a Meistersingers guide" in which, she herself said of the Kubelik, "It is sunk by the unacceptable Walther, the orchestra's overbright, string-dominated sound, and Kubelik's at times sluggish tempi." First she says the tempi is good and Konya is wonderful. Then she turns around and lambasts the tempi & Konya. What kind of reviewer is that. On the other hand, here she gives the Solti 3 stars, but there she says "Solti's second set ('Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg'), from live Chicago concerts, is more musical but less idiomatic. Every member of the cast offers some of the most solid, beautiful vocalization anywhere in the Meistersinger discography...This will be first choice for many." Again, totally inconsistent reviews!! Let me give you a more objective viewpoint. The recording was made from live performances in Chicago's Orchestra Hall in Sep 1995. In the concert performance, the orchestra, soloists and chorus were situated next to each other with little separation. As a result, when Decca's engineers recorded the concert, they would not "separate" the three elements. The result you get is relatively closedly miked soloists, very upfront choral singing (unlike most modern sets where the chorus is placed backwards" and also upfront orchestral playing "Culshaw-style" (though perhaps a little less upfront than "Culshaw-style". Basically everything is upfront and the soloists, orchestra and chorus sound like they are next to each other (and in fact they are). Whether you like it or not is a matter of taste. But the digital sound is full, vivid and gorgeous. The choral singing is superb - the precision is breathtaking and astonishing. The soloists vocalize very beautifully but not very dramatically. If they had addded more "drama" into their vocalization, this would have been even a better set. Having said that, everyone of the singers sing very beautifully and there's not a weak link in terms of vocal beauty. Solti's conducting is "flowing" rather than "punchy". The orchestra plays magnificently, but like the soloists the playing is beautiful with a certain lack of "drama" in their playing (the CSO is afterall a symphony orchestra not an opera orchestra). If you listen to, for examples, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra or Convent Garden Orchestra or Orchestre de l'Opera-Bastille, you will realize that these opera orchestras play somewhat differently - with more "drama". Listen to Solti's La Traviata (Convent Garden) or Solti's Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Vienna Philharmonic) or Chung's Samson Et Dalila or Chung's Otello, and you will get the point. For that matter listen to Solti's Lohengrin, Tannhauser, Parsifal (all played by the Vienna philharmonic), and you feel the difference immediately. The conclusion is this: This is a gorgeous performance by first-class solosists, orchestra and chorus beautifully caught by Decca's engineers. The dramatic side is downplayed somewhat (not totally). But it works!!! I love this recording. Whoever said that Meistersingers can only be performed very dramatically?? The fun with listening to opera is to hear different ways of playing it. Would this work as a top recommendation? Definitely.

A summary of "Meistersinger" recordings:
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is Wagner's greatest opera. However, there is no definitive recording of it, and at four compact discs, assembling a complete discography in the search for the best recording can be very expensive. I thought I should give my opinion on the best recordings of this masterpiece, because I HAVE assembled five recordings. My opinions are on this page because the two best recordings are NOT available from Amazon.com. SOLTI (Decca 452 606-2): My opinion is now rather lower than it was at the time of my earlier review; Solti rushes the Prize Song, which is a serious drawback, even with his excellence earlier in the work; Van Dam is severely lacking in both interpretation and voice, Mattila is wholly inadequate next to her predecessors, Heppner (a once-promising tenor whose voice has gone downhill alarmingly quickly) is beautiful of voice but not ideally ardent interpretatively; all of this puts this recording out of the running for top Meistersinger recording, even with superb work from Opie, Lippert, Vermillion, Pape and the Chicago Symphony forces. *** JOCHUM (DG 415 278-2): For: superb conducting from Jochum, good work from the Berlin Opera forces, a gloriously lyrical Walther from Domingo, moments of breathtaking insight and beauty from Fischer-Dieskau's Sachs, the greatest Beckmesser on record in Hermann, excellent support from Ludwig, Laubenthal, Lagger. Against: the miscast Sachs of Fischer-Dieskau (lack of weight and authority), the blowsy, wobbly Eva of Ligendza, the RIDICULOUS German of Domingo. I still give it four stars thanks to Jochum. **** CLUYTENS (Music and Arts 1011): For: arguably the greatest Sachs of the century in Hotter, a girlish Eva in Brouwenstijn, excellent Beckmesser in Schmitt-Walter, luxury casting with Greindl and Fischer-Dieskau as Pogner and Kothner. Against: the uninspired Walther of Windgassen, the mannerisms of Stolze as David, uninspired orchestral, choral and conducting work, above all the excrutiating sound. *** KEMPE (EMI 7 64154 2): For: perhaps the best conductor on any Meistersinger set, Kempe is absolutely inspired, drawing glorious playing from the BPO, he has a consistent, comprehensive view of the work's structure, builds up raptly to the big emotional climaxes and directs the huge cast with warmth and sensitivity. His only rivals are Jochum and Kubelík. He also has arguably the greatest Eva ever in Elisabeth Grümmer: an adorable, lovable, spontaneous Eva who sings with a large, silvery, soaring soprano, if not quite with the radiance of Janowitz for Kubelík. Kempe also has a weighty, dark-toned Sachs in Frantz, an uncaricatured Beckmesser in Kusche, an ideal Magdalene and David in Höffgen and Unger, a noble Pogner in Frick, and a good chorus. Against: the dry-voiced, leathery Walther of Rudolf Schock is a serious handicap. Frantz has several passages of unsteadiness and grittiness. The mono recording distances the orchestra. It is outrageous that 1) Hotter was not cast as Sachs, 2) Gedda was not cast as Walther and 3) the recording was not made in stereo. Still an essential recording. ****(*) KUBELÍK (Calig 50971-74): Kubelík matches Kempe's 1956 EMI achievement. He takes spacious tempi (272'10" is the total playing time, as against 255'26" for Solti) which he pulls off so well you don't notice what speed they are: you only notice the music. He has an ideal orchestral texture, built firmly on excitingly resonant, firm timpani; it is sumptuous without turgidity. He is every bit as moving as Kempe in the great emotional climaxes of the work, perhaps even more so. Kubelík is a conductor who was rather neglected on record; this recording is testament to his greatness. It is a huge loss to Wagnerians that this recording, made in 1967, was not released until 1994 (internal politics kept it on the shelf) - but now we can hear and revel in one of the great examples of Wagnerian conducting on record. Kubelík also has the best cast on disc. Thomas Stewart's Sachs has the weight and earthiness I found wanting with Fischer-Dieskau, with something close to an ideal mixture of bass and baritone, and in terms of characterization an ideal balance among poet, cobbler and mastersinger. Gundula Janowitz as Eva does not offer as lovable and charming a portrait of Eva as does Grümmer for Kempe, but has never been even remotely approached for sheer tonal beauty and radiance. She sings all of her role, especially the "O Sachs, mein Freund" outburst and the great "Selig wie die Sonne" lead into the Quintet with a gleaming, warm radiance, a silvery serenity and an incandescent glory that, allied to her perfect phrasing, are incredibly moving. Walther, often the weak link, is here turned into one of the greatest strengths of the opera by Sándor Kónya, a little-recorded Hungarian tenor. He sings here with a youthful ardency that is enormously compelling, and his voice is a radiant outpouring of liquid gold, quite able to match the voice of his Eva in tonal beauty. Each time I listen to the Quintet and hear him enter with "Deine Liebe," a chill runs down my spine; and his ecstatic account of the Preislied is peerless. With glorious playing and singing from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, a superb supporting cast, and demonstration-quality sound, this must take its place as the top recommendation. ***** A note about the availability of these recordings: Solti's, Jochum's and to a lesser extent Cluytens' are all easy to find. Kempe's is out of print in the US, but is available from Amazon's British branch, Amazon.co.uk. Kubelík's, however, is very hard to find, and I fear it has gone out of print. If anyone knows anything about its future, please post something on this page! If you can't find Kubelík's, get Kempe's, but if you need stereo, Jochum's. I would like to end by saying that this glorious opera needs to be in every self-respecting music collection. If you haven't heard it, TELEPORT to your nearest store and get a copy of this endlessly fascinating and incredibly moving masterpiece!!! Happy listening!

• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Vorspiel - Prelude
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Da zu dir der Heiland kam
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Verweilt! Ein Wort - ein einzig Wort!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Da war der Ritter ja am rechten Ort!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: David! Was stehst?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Mein Herr! Der Singer Meisterschlag
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Der Meister Ton und Weisen
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Aller End ist doch David der Allergescheit'st'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Seid meiner Treue wohl versehen
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Gott gruss euch, Meister!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Beliebt's, wir schreiten zur Merkerwahl?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Das heisst ein Wort, ein Wort ein Mann!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Verzeiht, vielleicht schon ginget ihr zu weit
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Wohl, Meister! Zur Tagesordnung kehrt
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Am stillen Herd in Winterszeit
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Nun, Meister! Wenn's gefallt
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Was Euch zum Liede Richt und Schnur
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Fanget an! So rief der Lenz in den Wald
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Seid Ihr nun fertig?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Halt, Meister! Nicht so geeilt!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act I: Doch wird's wohl jetzt mir kund
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Johannistag! Johannistag!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Was gibt's? Treff ich dich wieder am Schlag?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Nich doch, 's ist mild und labend
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Was duftet doch der Flieder so mild
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Gut'n Abend, Meister! Noch so fleisBig?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: K?nnt's einem Witwer nich gelingen?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Das dacht ich wohl. Nun heisst's: schaff Rat!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Da ist er!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: H?rt, ihr Leut, und lasst euch sagen
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Jerum! Jerum! Hallahalohe!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Mich schmerzt das Lied, ich weiss nicht wie!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: War das Eu'r Lied?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Den Tag seh' ich erscheinen
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act II: Zum Teufel mit dir, verdammter Kerl!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Vorspiel - Prelude
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Gleich, Meister! Hier!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Blumen und Bander seh ich dort?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Wahn! Wahn! Uberall Wahn!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Gruss Gott, mein Junker
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Mein Freund, In Holder Jugendzeit
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Das nenn ich mir einen Abgesang!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Ein Werbelied! Von Sachs!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Sie da, Herr Schreiber: auch am Morgen?
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Das Gedicht? ...heir liess ich's
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - So ganz boshaft doch keinen ich fand
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Sceine 1 - Immer schuster, das ist nun mein Los
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Hat Man mit dem Schuhwerk nicht seine Not!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Mein Kind, von Tristan und Isolde
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 1 - Die 'selige Morgentraum-Deutweise'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Sankt Krispin, lobet ihn!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Als Nurenberg belagert war
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Hungersnot! Hungersnot!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Ihr tanzt? Was werden die Meister sagen? 'Lehrbubentanz'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Die Meistersinger! Die Meistersinger!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - 'Wach' auf, es nahet gen den Tag'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Euch macht ihr's leicht, mir macht ihr's schwer
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - O Sachs, mein Freund!
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - 'Morgen ich leuchte In rosigem Schien'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - 'Heimlich mir graut'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - 'Morgenlich leuchtend im rosegen Schein'
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Den Zeugen, denk es, wahlt ich gut
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Act III: Scene 2 - Verachtet mir die Meister nicht