Meistersinger

I saw a fantastic production of Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg at the Staatsoper last Monday. Great singing (John Trelevan sang Walther von Stolzing, Alan Titus sang Hans Sachs) fast, fun. The students were young rascals dressed in sailors outfits like the Vienna Boys Choir, the backdrop to the second act (after the fire at the end of the first act) was a picture of a devastated Nuernberg after the war, and the backdrop of the third act (normally a singing hall) was grass stalks that were so big that the players were the size of insects. We were in fairyland and there were not only fairies but characters from other Wagners operas: Tannhauser with his lute, Lohengrin clutching a swan and a handsome Elsa, an overly blond and handsome Siegmund dressed in a wolfs fur, a dwarf, Wotan with spear and stick, three Rhinemaidens with their chunks of gold and even Wagner himself. By the time the judges of the singing competition and the cast of characters were seated on the podium and the fairies and school boys were seated below there was very little room left on the stage. The Rhine maidens passed their chunks of gold along the row to Eva (Pogner put it under a chair) and Tannhauser whispered a few words of advice into the ear of Walther von Stolzing before he began his final song. It was very deft.

In the middle of Hans Sach's ode to Deutschland there was a silence and from the podium on which all the judges sat, one judge called out  'Just listen to yourself Hans Sachs, what are you singing? Do you really mean that?"
'Yes, of course I know what I am singing,' said Sachs.
The judge retorted, 'It is just so much National Socialist rubbish!'
The judges were then caught up in a loud verbal (not sung) argument:
'Well, we can change the words!'
'Oh no, we can't do that to Wagner's libretto', etc etc.
The chorus of Wagner characters and fairies stood around looking bemused as the judges argued. Then a voice boomed over the top:
"Gentlemen, could we please sing the opera to the end now?"
The orchestra started playing again and Sachs finished his song.
I thought to myself that this could only happen in Germany where so many people find Wagner's fixation with German culture embarrassing. I thought it very well produced, argument and all. Having all the characters there in a fairy like setting added depth to the discussion.

I could have sat and listened for hours. Well, I did sit and listen for hours, but it felt like 20 minutes.