The opportunity to witness something like this comes to me very rarely. What a find! There is a nobility in the expression and deportment of these fine performers which both humbles and elates me. Tastes in performance do change, but this, this is forever.
With the exquisite quintet in the third act of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg ("Blessed, as the sun"), Wagner used an ensemble style that he had not employed since his early opera Lohengrin. Wagner eschewed ensemble writing in his later operas. He believed that ensembles -- trios, quartets, quintets, and the like -- impeded the dramatic flow; in an ensemble the characters stand still on the stage and embark on what might be termed a group soliloquy. For Wagner the dramatic rhythm was everything. Opera, in Wagner's theory, should flow from beginning to end like a play. In Wagner's mind ensembles in opera had no dramatic purpose; they did not advance the story, rather, their existence was justified by the composer's need to express himself musically. Why did Wagner include a quintet in Meistersinger? Most authors who have considered the question, such as Wagner biographer Robert W. Gutman, have said that the Meistersinger quintet is simply an atavism: a throwback to an earlier operatic style. Wagner, the composer, wanted to express himself musically, so Wagner the composer triumphed over Wagner the theorist and dramatist. I would offer a different explanation. The third act of Meistersinger takes place on June 21, the day on which the summer solstice occurs. Solstice, from the Latin for sun stands still, in astronomy, is either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). At the solstices (winter or summer) the sun's apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator, about 23 1/2° of arc. At the time of summer solstice, around June 20 or 21, the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer. For several days before and after each solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky, i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day. Perhaps Wagner wanted to express the idea of the solstice symbolically in the drama of Meistersinger; perhaps he wanted to embed the idea of standing still into the fabric of the play. And the quintet in the third act was employed as the musical means to that end. The characters standing still in the ensemble was the most potent way of expressing the dramatic theme of the sun appearing to stand still in the sky.
And Wieland may have been an innovator and have created the Neues Bayreuth but what we see in this filmed treasure is a director proud of his grandfather Wagner, of what Wagner wanted to get across with this opera and how he wanted it! He loved this - just look how he makes Sachs look at Eva! No offensive alterations here, no moving it to modern times, no regie horrors like last year's sacreligious Meistersinger at that same place, "directed" by Katarina Wagner, an ignorant Nothing!
Yes. I saw it. If anyone can imagine. In 1964. I was 15. The stage was built as a replica of the Globe Theater, in hommage to Shakespeare. It was absolute avant-garde. It still is. Just look at the relation between Sachs and Eva. Nothing could be more bold. It still makes me shudder.
@@degrazia7669 Do you mean the sexual tension between Hans Sach and Eva? I have tried to think the other ways but there is something weird between Hans Sach and Eva that really intrigues me lol.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
The opportunity to witness something like this comes to me very rarely. What a find! There is a nobility in the expression and deportment of these fine performers which both humbles and elates me. Tastes in performance do change, but this, this is forever.
wow
that is singing - such a full package for this delicate, sublime moment of Meistersinger
SUCH things can't be history. They are always alive and near to us :)
Magical.
Ich liebe Wolfgang Windgassen...
Fantastic and wonderful to see.
With the exquisite quintet in the third act of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg ("Blessed, as the sun"), Wagner used an ensemble style that he had not employed since his early opera Lohengrin. Wagner eschewed ensemble writing in his later operas. He believed that ensembles -- trios, quartets, quintets, and the like -- impeded the dramatic flow; in an ensemble the characters stand still on the stage and embark on what might be termed a group soliloquy. For Wagner the dramatic rhythm was everything. Opera, in Wagner's theory, should flow from beginning to end like a play. In Wagner's mind ensembles in opera had no dramatic purpose; they did not advance the story, rather, their existence was justified by the composer's need to express himself musically.
Why did Wagner include a quintet in Meistersinger? Most authors who have considered the question, such as Wagner biographer Robert W. Gutman, have said that the Meistersinger quintet is simply an atavism: a throwback to an earlier operatic style. Wagner, the composer, wanted to express himself musically, so Wagner the composer triumphed over Wagner the theorist and dramatist.
I would offer a different explanation.
The third act of Meistersinger takes place on June 21, the day on which the summer solstice occurs. Solstice, from the Latin for sun stands still, in astronomy, is either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°).
At the solstices (winter or summer) the sun's apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator, about 23 1/2° of arc. At the time of summer solstice, around June 20 or 21, the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer.
For several days before and after each solstice the sun appears to stand still in the sky, i.e., its noontime elevation does not seem to change from day to day.
Perhaps Wagner wanted to express the idea of the solstice symbolically in the drama of Meistersinger; perhaps he wanted to embed the idea of standing still into the fabric of the play. And the quintet in the third act was employed as the musical means to that end. The characters standing still in the ensemble was the most potent way of expressing the dramatic theme of the sun appearing to stand still in the sky.
*
Die Meistersinger takes place on the 23rd/24th June, the eve of St. John's Day and the day itself and not on the Summer Solstice.
J'y étais !
Veinard! Moi, j'étais trop jeune...
And Wieland may have been an innovator and have created the Neues Bayreuth but what we see in this filmed treasure is a director proud of his grandfather Wagner, of what Wagner wanted to get across with this opera and how he wanted it! He loved this - just look how he makes Sachs look at Eva! No offensive alterations here, no moving it to modern times, no regie horrors like last year's sacreligious Meistersinger at that same place, "directed" by Katarina Wagner, an ignorant Nothing!
❤❤
this and the rest of the rehearsal scenes from act 3 must be an essential dvd release for 2013
@ kkntoby: I think a complete performance of this masterpiece will never be released. I suggest this staging was not even filmed entirely :-(
Des caméras dans le Bayreuth de Wieland?? J'hallucine!!! Cela existera-t-il un jour en DVD?
les mises en scenes "régie" à Bayreuth maintenant en 2011, sont dégoutantes, scandaleuses.
Dejà rien que Greindl en Hans Sachs vaut le détour.. On pourrait en dire des tonnes mais.... Laissons la beauté agir.
Horror Besetzung 😱
????
How times have changed. This production was considered a scandal in its day....
Yes. I saw it. If anyone can imagine. In 1964. I was 15. The stage was built as a replica of the Globe Theater, in hommage to Shakespeare. It was absolute avant-garde. It still is. Just look at the relation between Sachs and Eva. Nothing could be more bold. It still makes me shudder.
@@degrazia7669 Do you mean the sexual tension between Hans Sach and Eva? I have tried to think the other ways but there is something weird between Hans Sach and Eva that really intrigues me lol.