This was my first Meistersinger that I ever heard or saw - and this cast and production for me are the definitive modern interpretation of Meistersinger. This quintet in particular as well as Heppner's Prize Song were revelatory experiences for me - but James Morris and Eva Mattila are by far the show stealers here. Both sing and act with sheer perfection and Morris gets the finest balance of fatherly wisdom and revolutionary wit that Sachs must embody.
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.
This is very insightful. It adds much to the discussion of what Meistersinger is about. I just wish you had not cited Robert Gutman. His Wagner "scholarship" has been totally debunked.
this is perhaps Wagner's only serious vocal ensemble work? and he had God shine through with it. TH-cam must have done something to the audio, those of you who like it must get the DVD and listen to the 2-channel stereo audio (as oppose to multi-channel), much more open and balanced sound that better delivers the music. I like Levine's conducting that let his orchestra float the voices and let the magic show itself. my most loved "Selig, wie die Sonne".
Saw this at the ENO a month or so back. Got to say I was a little underwhelmed overall, not by the singing or the production but the music didn't hit the heights of previous Wagner experiences for me. That said, this quintet is sublime. It was the one moment all evening that I got goosebumps. Reminds me of Rosenkavalier.
Gorgeous piece, and what a great conducting! Maestro Levine's memory will live, together with Maestro Wagner's, in their music. The whole character of this quintet reminds strongly of "O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe" duet in A-flat major from Tristan und Isolde, which is not surprising since clearly Tristan was on Wagner's mind at least in Act 3, with explicit references earlier (in the preceding Sachs' speech). Noteworthy, this quintet "Selig, wie die Sonne" is in F-sharp major. If only Maestro Wagner thought more of music and less of drama, his poetry is often so verbose and convoluted, it's amazing that it is matched by such great music. Less (words) could be so much more, like in this piece...although he was obviously inspired by his own literary poetic output.
@@korhonenmikko but you probably have nothing against Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Scriabin, Bartok, etc etc? Poor Levine just did not imagine that Les Sauvages could treat him like that for the "alleged" - that word is key, and let's not forget it's all about adult males unburdened by traditional family values (female wife & children). Of course settling scores or revenging, hubris never happen. However he was a celebrity to cause enormous envy, including for his compensation. If only he moved to Europe, where similarly smeared directors like Charles Dutoit or Daniele Gatti happily perform today, he would be lauded and venerated. It all proves once again how foreign European art, which is classical music and opera, is to the land of the free (not!).
@@perlesbaroquesuniques Oh come off it, he was doing that since the 70s and everyone in the opera world knew it. I only said alleged because it never went to court. Also you are absolutely psychopathic to say sexual harrassment is okay if it's men who are the victims (and they were 16-17 and the power difference between them and a renown conductor was enormous). I have zero problem throwing aside any conductor who does anything problematic. A conductor is replaceable-the differences in conducting styles are not that great. And this Mastersingers isn't even that well conducted, IMO.
@@korhonenmikko You completely ignored the list of those who committed much worse proven misdeeds - surely because you are good only to repeat mindlessly what's on TV and join the mob bullying the musician offered for beating. I have no problem throwing aside a keyboard hero hypocrite who is good enough only to besmirch an unattainable talent. Clearly you are, unfortunately, very replaceable, vicious mediocrities are plentiful - unlike those who are genius. Geh' hin, Knecht!
Damn it, I have listened to this opera for years, and this quintet hundreds of times, and I haven't picked up on this connection until you pointed it out. You are quite correct, it is from Tristan (wherein it appears for a final time during Isolde's Transfiguration, beginning with "Heller schallend..."). This is yet another example of how sophisticated Wagner's music is, that you can hear something new even when you think you know it thoroughly. I can't remember if this musical theme appears elsewhere in Die Meistersinger. This opera in particular is his most self-referential. There is a much more explicit Tristan reference that occurs shortly before the quintet, when Sachs sings "Mein Kind, von Tristan und Isolde. . . " just after the most recognizable chord in music, which makes a jarring appearance after nearly four hours of Meistersinger's sunnier harmonies. Also in this quintet, at 1:30, we hear the love leitmotif of Siegmund and Sieglinde from Die Walkuere, an opera which Wagner had composed nearly 20 years previously, but which at the time of Die Meistersinger's premiere in 1868, had not yet been heard in public. There are other references to the Ring in Die Meistersinger, including in David's singing lesson in the first act.
Well, he DID write TRISTAN just before writing this, and even quotes it directly, just a bit earlier, when he tells Eva he knows only too well the story of King Marke.
Yes, it is. And you can hear "the love motiv" from the ring in 1:31. (th-cam.com/video/Fl30lOlkNPY/w-d-xo.html). For example on the Parsifal's first act when Parsifal kills the swan you can listen the "swan motiv from Lohengrin".
This is not the Ring. Wagner was making a point with Meistersinger, that he could write an opera according to the critics' rules that proves the value and the truth about breaking those very rules.
@@silvia7597 and your whole comment is rather subjective, don't you think? It's a great production, a delight for the eyes - not low-budget semiporn trash that is made of anything today. It follows his instructions. It is delicate and rare music and the conducting is to match - superb.
the fact that Wagner isn't on the short list of the greatest composers alongside Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven is a joke-in fact I'd probs place Richard before all three of them :)
Bah, Wagner didn't have training to write ensembles. The piece is static and even harmonically not trascendental. And finally the melodic invention is what it is, banal. But that has always been Wagner's weakest point - as his innumerable melodic plagiarism well show.
It's a good thing for you. During this opera, e.g., you can listen the same aria of the tenor, three times, identical... To say nothing about the wonderful one of Sixtus Beckmesser ...A aà aà aà aà aà... O oò oò oò oò oò... uù uù uù uù uù.... ...Maria Vergine!
This Quintet makes me feel in Paradise!
Im paradis!!!🎉
What joyous music!!! Greetings from Detroit November 6, 2024
I was privileged enough to have heard James Morris' Wotan some few years ago. It was thrilling.
This was my first Meistersinger that I ever heard or saw - and this cast and production for me are the definitive modern interpretation of Meistersinger. This quintet in particular as well as Heppner's Prize Song were revelatory experiences for me - but James Morris and Eva Mattila are by far the show stealers here. Both sing and act with sheer perfection and Morris gets the finest balance of fatherly wisdom and revolutionary wit that Sachs must embody.
Why is it that Die Meistersinger makes me so happy and hopeful!!
...è un grande enigma...
Weil daraus die deutsche Seele spricht❤
Levine was great in this production. I saw it two times at the Met!
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.
This is very insightful. It adds much to the discussion of what Meistersinger is about. I just wish you had not cited Robert Gutman. His Wagner "scholarship" has been totally debunked.
Wow!!!
Even without ensembles, Wagner still entails a lot of standing still and singing.
@@onigbajamo True. Quite static.
You've over-thought this.
So incredibly beautiful and sacred. LOVE MY GIRL KARITA!
ESCUCHAR A WAGNER .... ES LO MAS CERCANO AL ESTAR EN UN LUGAR DE PRIVILEGIO !!!!
Sublime représentation et distribution magnifique !
this is perhaps Wagner's only serious vocal ensemble work? and he had God shine through with it. TH-cam must have done something to the audio, those of you who like it must get the DVD and listen to the 2-channel stereo audio (as oppose to multi-channel), much more open and balanced sound that better delivers the music. I like Levine's conducting that let his orchestra float the voices and let the magic show itself. my most loved "Selig, wie die Sonne".
TH-cam compresses the video and sound to save space on their memory.
There is also the Vengeance Trio from Gotterdammerung.
The Flying Dutchman is full of ensembles. As is Tannhäuser. And Rienzi. Are those not considered serious?
Saw this at the ENO a month or so back. Got to say I was a little underwhelmed overall, not by the singing or the production but the music didn't hit the heights of previous Wagner experiences for me. That said, this quintet is sublime. It was the one moment all evening that I got goosebumps. Reminds me of Rosenkavalier.
Herrliche Stimme!
I think this quintet is the most impressive part of this opera. The famous final trio in Der Rosenkavalier seems to be influenced from this sequence.
This is the only Wagner opera that I am prepared to devote nearly 5 hours listening to.
They are all worth listening to: Parsifal?
Pruebe tambien con La Walkirya
Gorgeous piece, and what a great conducting! Maestro Levine's memory will live, together with Maestro Wagner's, in their music. The whole character of this quintet reminds strongly of "O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe" duet in A-flat major from Tristan und Isolde, which is not surprising since clearly Tristan was on Wagner's mind at least in Act 3, with explicit references earlier (in the preceding Sachs' speech). Noteworthy, this quintet "Selig, wie die Sonne" is in F-sharp major.
If only Maestro Wagner thought more of music and less of drama, his poetry is often so verbose and convoluted, it's amazing that it is matched by such great music. Less (words) could be so much more, like in this piece...although he was obviously inspired by his own literary poetic output.
A bit tacky to eulogise Levine like this what with his alleged sex attacks.
@@korhonenmikko but you probably have nothing against Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Scriabin, Bartok, etc etc? Poor Levine just did not imagine that Les Sauvages could treat him like that for the "alleged" - that word is key, and let's not forget it's all about adult males unburdened by traditional family values (female wife & children). Of course settling scores or revenging, hubris never happen. However he was a celebrity to cause enormous envy, including for his compensation.
If only he moved to Europe, where similarly smeared directors like Charles Dutoit or Daniele Gatti happily perform today, he would be lauded and venerated. It all proves once again how foreign European art, which is classical music and opera, is to the land of the free (not!).
@@perlesbaroquesuniques Oh come off it, he was doing that since the 70s and everyone in the opera world knew it. I only said alleged because it never went to court. Also you are absolutely psychopathic to say sexual harrassment is okay if it's men who are the victims (and they were 16-17 and the power difference between them and a renown conductor was enormous).
I have zero problem throwing aside any conductor who does anything problematic. A conductor is replaceable-the differences in conducting styles are not that great. And this Mastersingers isn't even that well conducted, IMO.
@@korhonenmikko You completely ignored the list of those who committed much worse proven misdeeds - surely because you are good only to repeat mindlessly what's on TV and join the mob bullying the musician offered for beating. I have no problem throwing aside a keyboard hero hypocrite who is good enough only to besmirch an unattainable talent. Clearly you are, unfortunately, very replaceable, vicious mediocrities are plentiful - unlike those who are genius. Geh' hin, Knecht!
@@perlesbaroquesuniques What list did I ignore? Give examples. Levine was a serial sexual harrasser and you can't change that by posting.
Fabulous.
Ya casi 155 años de que salió y la sigo escuchando 😍
Verdaderamente de Maestros.
Oh that resolution!
Wagner how did you do that...
This might be the most German thing ever.
Thanks from Germany - that's very flattering.
Last time Hepner heard live in this opera.
In my Fathers Set :-)
Respect! I am familiar with your father's name.
Who isn't? Anyone who watched Opera productions between 1966 and 1990 knew the name.@@rst7243
is that supposed to be a Tristan at 1:05 and later?
Damn it, I have listened to this opera for years, and this quintet hundreds of times, and I haven't picked up on this connection until you pointed it out. You are quite correct, it is from Tristan (wherein it appears for a final time during Isolde's Transfiguration, beginning with "Heller schallend..."). This is yet another example of how sophisticated Wagner's music is, that you can hear something new even when you think you know it thoroughly. I can't remember if this musical theme appears elsewhere in Die Meistersinger.
This opera in particular is his most self-referential. There is a much more explicit Tristan reference that occurs shortly before the quintet, when Sachs sings "Mein Kind, von Tristan und Isolde. . . " just after the most recognizable chord in music, which makes a jarring appearance after nearly four hours of Meistersinger's sunnier harmonies. Also in this quintet, at 1:30, we hear the love leitmotif of Siegmund and Sieglinde from Die Walkuere, an opera which Wagner had composed nearly 20 years previously, but which at the time of Die Meistersinger's premiere in 1868, had not yet been heard in public. There are other references to the Ring in Die Meistersinger, including in David's singing lesson in the first act.
Good one :-)
Thank you.
Well, he DID write TRISTAN just before writing this, and even quotes it directly, just a bit earlier, when he tells Eva he knows only too well the story of King Marke.
Yes, it is. And you can hear "the love motiv" from the ring in 1:31. (th-cam.com/video/Fl30lOlkNPY/w-d-xo.html). For example on the Parsifal's first act when Parsifal kills the swan you can listen the "swan motiv from Lohengrin".
Schoen!
The staging is so static and polite. Just as Levine's conducting. On the plus side; the voices (especially Mattila).
The staging is as it should be in a Wagner Opera.
This is not the Ring. Wagner was making a point with Meistersinger, that he could write an opera according to the critics' rules that proves the value and the truth about breaking those very rules.
@@eastclintwood4125 "should" is a rather subjective notion, don t you think?
@@silvia7597 and your whole comment is rather subjective, don't you think? It's a great production, a delight for the eyes - not low-budget semiporn trash that is made of anything today. It follows his instructions. It is delicate and rare music and the conducting is to match - superb.
the fact that Wagner isn't on the short list of the greatest composers alongside Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven is a joke-in fact I'd probs place Richard before all three of them :)
Someday he will be on this list...
Dude is anti-Semitic that’s why
W is the grestest
Bah, Wagner didn't have training to write ensembles. The piece is static and even harmonically not trascendental. And finally the melodic invention is what it is, banal. But that has always been Wagner's weakest point - as his innumerable melodic plagiarism well show.
More coroner than critic.
It's a good thing for you. During this opera, e.g., you can listen the same aria of the tenor, three times, identical... To say nothing about the wonderful one of Sixtus Beckmesser ...A aà aà aà aà aà... O oò oò oò oò oò... uù uù uù uù uù.... ...Maria Vergine!
Ignorance is bliss
FYI
th-cam.com/video/jrEFmYmMmkU/w-d-xo.html
@@derek2365 Sad thing when art has to be explained.