Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Wilhelm Furtwängler
Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Date/Location
15 July 1943
Festspielhaus Bayreuth
Recording Type
  live   studio
  live compilation   live and studio
Cast
Hans Sachs Jaro Prohaska
Veit Pogner Josef Greindl
Kunz Vogelgesang Benno Arnold
Konrad Nachtigall Helmut Fehn
Sixtus Beckmesser Eugen Fuchs
Fritz Kothner Fritz Krenn
Balthasar Zorn Gerhard Witting
Ulrich Eißlinger Gustav Rödin
Augustin Moser Karl Krollmann
Hermann Ortel Herbert Gosebruch
Hans Schwartz Franz Sauer
Hans Foltz Alfred Dome
Walther von Stolzing Max Lorenz
David Erich Zimmermann
Eva Maria Müller
Magdalene Camilla Kallab
Ein Nachtwächter Erich Pina
Gallery
Reviews
MusicWeb-International.com

A real treat, but be warned this is not a complete Meistersinger – there are gaps. But my word, it is worth it to experience Furtwängler’s astonishing grasp of this huge score. This is Furtwängler the Light, entirely in touch with the aura this piece projects.

The performance is taken from 1943’s Bayreuth Fetsival. The transfer level is fairly high, and strings can appear gritty and edgy, yet none of this can obscure Furtwängler’s dignified conception of the Overture. Trills still buzz with energy, and the conductor’s shaping of lyric melody is a thing of wonder.

Of the names in the cast list, possibly Josef Greindl was the greatest, and certainly his Pogner is one of the greatest assumptions this reviewer has heard. Greindl exhibits great depth of sound, and his ‘Das schöne Fest Johannistag’ is simply beautiful against a bed of sound in the orchestra.

In Walther (the great Max Lorenz), one hears a wonderful singer, to begin with obviously reining his voice in. He is unleashed for ‘Am stillen Herd’. David (Erich Zimmermann) is hugely characterful. Sachs is Jaro Prohaska. I question whether this Sachs projects the requisite authority (his ‘Halt, Meister!’ towards the end of Act 1, for example), and right from the start he sounds on the tired side.

Throughout Act 1, Furtwängler inspires the Bayreuth orchestra to produce miracles. He never for a second merely accompanies, always fully aware of the Wagnerian tapestry in front of him.

The happy-go-lucky youthful swing of the opening of Act 2 is perhaps a little pressed by Furtwängler, although it does settle into some sort of a lilt. It is in Scene 2 that Furtwängler comes into his own, moulding the strings so expressively against Greindl’s voice. Worth noting, too, that the Magdalene and Eva (Müller and Kallab) work so well together, their voices complementing each other. All of which seems in retrospect but preparation for Prohaska’s Fliedermonolog. Here the distant horns are so many hunting horns, and if Prohaska’s first part of this monologue is not fully involving, the sadness of the remainder more than makes up for it.

Müller comes into her own in Scene 5 (‘Da ist er! – Ja, Ihr seid es!’), her impassioned duet with Walther rising to a natural climax, only to be interrupted by the Nightwatchman. Furtwängler coaxes from the orchestra during these scenes the most astonishing delicacy. A pity the Nightwatchman himself (Erich Pina) sounds nervous.

There is wit in this act too – not something that immediately springs to mind with Furtwängler! – around the discovery of Beckmesser and the depiction of the stage’s chaos.

If one needs any proof as to Furtwängler’s genius, one need only go to the Prelude to Act 3 – in fact, maybe even the first note thereof, which seems to immediately conjure up this first scene’s special atmosphere. Note also the gorgeous horns – mellow and refined – and the real explosion of emotion at 5’57. True, the ensemble is not perfect as we shift into the action of the final act.

Here it is Sachs’ Wahn monologue that impresses. Believably world-weary, Prohaska is infinitely human. It is only later in the act that he appears not to have the truly ‘paternal’ touch. Lorenz, after Furtwängler’s glowing preparation, really opens out for his ‘Morgenlich leuchtend’.

If any act proves that this is Furtwängler’s Meistersinger, it is this long Act 3. He paces it to perfection, with the end truly climactic. Certainly from Walther’s Preislied onwards this sits at the very top of the Meistersinger tree, and all sonic limitations become irrelevant.

Good to have a second stab on CD4 at the Meistersinger apple in the Act 1 Prelude (BPO, February 29th, 1949), more assured in sound, plus a glowing ‘Karfreitagszauber’, Siegfried’s Funeral March and a Prelude and Transfiguration from Tristan to close the set. But it is in the Bayreuth Meistersinger that this set’s value lies, and for which we should be ever grateful, despite the missing sections.

Colin Clarke

Rating
(9/10)
User Rating
(4.2/5)
Media Type/Label
EMI, Foyer, UORC, EA
Laudis, Dante, Grammofono 2000, M&A, Walhall Eternity, Line, Opera d’Oro, OOA, TOL
Technical Specifications
489 kbit/s VBR, 44.1 kHz, 839 MByte (flac)
Remarks
From the Bayreuth festival
A production by Heinz Tietjen (1943)
Furtwängler conducted Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on 15, 18, 21 and 25 July 1943, the other 12 performances were conducted by Hermann Abendroth
with a different cast.
Missing are act 1 scene 3 and the quintet of act 3.