Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Met.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
The Met's 2007 revival of Wagner's Meistersinger boasts a strong cast--maybe the best since Ben Heppner, Karita Mattila and Hermann Prey took the stage together almost ten years ago. As Sachs, James Morris' warm bass-baritone has worn a little over the years--the top is not quite as sweet as it was.
He gets through the third act by taking repeated pulls on a tankard that sits on his cobbler's bench. But he recovered beautifully for the final scene, singing with gentle humor in the first act, meaning in the second and real pianissimo and emotional weight in the final scenes of Act III. His monologues were dead-on, and the cobbling song was (as it should be) a riot.
The star of the evening was the town clerk. Hans-Joachim Ketelsen played Beckmesser as a vibrating bundle of nerves, a man who drives himself further and further into the ground--Wile E. Coyote to Sachs' shoe-making Road Runner. And yet, he hit the big high note at the end of the Act III "argument" scene dead-on, and engaged in inspired comic business in the big scenes in Acts II and III. Medieval musical torture has never been so much fun.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
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| Johan Botha as Walther von Stolzing. Image © 2007 The Metropolitan Opera. |
He gets through the third act by taking repeated pulls on a tankard that sits on his cobbler's bench. But he recovered beautifully for the final scene, singing with gentle humor in the first act, meaning in the second and real pianissimo and emotional weight in the final scenes of Act III. His monologues were dead-on, and the cobbling song was (as it should be) a riot.
The star of the evening was the town clerk. Hans-Joachim Ketelsen played Beckmesser as a vibrating bundle of nerves, a man who drives himself further and further into the ground--Wile E. Coyote to Sachs' shoe-making Road Runner. And yet, he hit the big high note at the end of the Act III "argument" scene dead-on, and engaged in inspired comic business in the big scenes in Acts II and III. Medieval musical torture has never been so much fun.
