Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Georg Solti
Wiener Staatsopernchor
Wiener Philharmoniker
Date/Location
15 September – 14 Oktober 1975
Sofiensaal Wien
Recording Type
  live   studio
  live compilation   live and studio
Cast
Hans Sachs Norman Bailey
Veit Pogner Kurt Moll
Kunz Vogelgesang Adalbert Kraus
Konrad Nachtigall Martin Egel
Sixtus Beckmesser Bernd Weikl
Fritz Kothner Gerd Nienstedt
Balthasar Zorn Martin Schomberg
Ulrich Eißlinger Wolfgang Appel
Augustin Moser Michel Sénéchal
Hermann Ortel Helmut Berger-Tuna
Hans Schwartz Kurt Rydl
Hans Foltz Rudolf Hartmann
Walther von Stolzing René Kollo
David Adolf Dallapozza
Eva Hannelore Bode
Magdalene Julia Hamari
Ein Nachtwächter Werner Klumlikboldt
Gallery
Reviews
classical.net

This is another welcome Decca re-issue in the newly refurbished ‘Classic Opera’ series. Throughout his long career, Solti was justly famous for his Wagner interpretations and his pioneering first studio recording of the ‘Ring Cycle’ also for Decca, has acquired cult status. This opera, as Solti himself confessed, was always close to his heart and it is the only Wagnerian work that he recorded twice.

The version under review is the first published in 1967 when Sir Georg was at the height of his powers and fame, in fact he managed to engage an array of stars worthy of the greatest occasion. In this first foray of ‘Die Meistersinger’, Solti is definitely more carefree, treating the music with a youthful freshness that is rather infectious and clothing it with a certain wit and humour that completely engages the listener, making him forget, albeit for a short while, that life has also its clouded skies.

The opera requires seven top class performers, and as earmarked earlier, Solti left no stone unturned to get some of the best then available for this recording. Bailey, Kollo, Bode, Hamari, Weikl, Moll and Dallapozza all sing with great heart and conviction. The Vienna Opera Chorus and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra interpret this mammoth but sunny masterpiece flawlessly. The music is in their blood and the impression one gets is that they have lived with it since time immemorial

Although Sir Georg’s second interpretation is more scholarly and controlled (he recorded it late in his career), this version is most welcome as it gives a very limpid picture of Wagner’s inexhaustible genius. My only reservation is the booklet which contains only a short synopsis and the text, at least with translation. Some historic information would not have been amiss.

Gerald Fenech

Rating
(7/10)
User Rating
(4.5/5)
Media Type/Label
Decca, London
Decca
Technical Specifications
698 kbit/s VBR, 44.1 kHz, 1.25 GByte (flac)
Remarks
“Werner Klumlikboldt” is an anagram of Bernd Weikl and Kurt Moll, they each took one of the Nightwatchman’s two appearances.