This turns out to be one of the trickiest of all Wagner operas to be able to get a satisfactory recording, probably because it requires a large number of good singers who need to be a team: a difficult proposition, especially for a studio recording. I've already made my affinities for the 51 Karajan known (and the 43 Furtwängler if it were complete!), but now let's hear your thoughts. :tiphat:
From the clips I've heard of the 1943 Furtwängler Die Meistersinger on YouTube, the conducting there really is astounding, but without a quintet this couldn't be anyone's first choice. Meistersinger truly deserves to be heard in good, full stereo sound, and that's why Kubelik's is pretty much essential. Kubelik is to my mind a very underrated Wagner conductor, and this might just be his best recording. Kubelik's cast doesn't have any weaknesses, a rarity for recordings of this opera, and he really brings out the warmth and geniality in the score. Kempe's studio recording is very fine as well, although I prefer Sandor Konya's Walther to the Walther of Rudolf Schock.
However, I'm going to throw out a curveball and pick the 1960 Bayreuth Meistersinger from Knappertsbusch. Knappertsbusch was a great Meistersinger man, and this is in my opinion his finest. Elisabeth Grümmer is an exquisite Eva, and Windgassen is a free and attractive Walther. What makes it for me though is the way in which Knappertsbusch is able to generate tremendous excitement through his conducting, especially at the end of each act.
However, I'm going to throw out a curveball and pick the 1960 Bayreuth Meistersinger from Knappertsbusch. Knappertsbusch was a great Meistersinger man, and this is in my opinion his finest. Elisabeth Grümmer is an exquisite Eva, and Windgassen is a free and attractive Walther. What makes it for me though is the way in which Knappertsbusch is able to generate tremendous excitement through his conducting, especially at the end of each act.
I have been a fan of this meister for some time now owning the Myto release, I have heard some people say Griendl is too dark & heavy voiced for Sachsy, but I really think he does a fine job....he is supposed to be the older wiser character especially compared to young Walther. For me also Grummer is the Eva to beat, such a pure sweet tone to capture the youthful innocence and enchanting good nature of our darling Eva, much to admire about this version for sure
As an interesting side note regarding the Karajan/Dresden recording, this was originally planned for 1968 with John Barbirolli conducting (!) but after the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia that year, Rafael Kubelik persuaded Barbirolli to withdraw from the project. The recording was rescheduled for late 1970 but Barbirolli had died earlier that year so Karajan was persuaded to take it over. If this seems a bit odd, note that the recording producer was not Karajan's regular product, but was Ronald Kinloch Anderson, who did Barbirolli's recordings.
Meistersinger is the Wagner opera I've listened to the least so my opinion is coming from limited exposure. In short, the 1956 Kempe release by Pristine with Schock, Grummer and Frantz knocked it out of the park for me, over the Kubelik. I listened to Kube first but found the Kempe cast and orchestration superior, especially Schock's "Walther" compared to Konya. Grummer a vocally resplendent "Eva".
(I do have a Naxos compilation of Schorr singing Hans Sachs which is outstanding)
Meistersinger is the Wagner opera I've listened to the least so my opinion is coming from limited exposure. In short, the 1955 Kempe release by Pristine with Schock, Grummer and Frantz knocked it out of the park for me, over the Kubelik. I listened to Kube first but found the Kempe cast and orchestration superior, especially Schock's "Walther" compared to Konya. Grummer a vocally resplendent "Eva".
Much to love about the 56 Kempe (especially with Pristine XR version) Schock is dismissed by some as a mere operetta singer that sings a couple wagner parts but I also really like his Walther, beautiful golden voice and his prize song is one of the very best with warmth and ardor for his beloved Eva (Grummer). I am a bit torn about whether Franz is a top tier Sachs which any reference meister must have, I will have to revisit this to refresh my memory
As some have said the Kubelik with good stereo sound and really solid cast with no obvious weak spots is a universal version that will appeal to many, I would say it is the "best stereo version".......but do any of the individual performances really knock you out or reach reference level...or is it just on balance all things considered the "safe choice" as best, hhmmmm
Exactly my thoughts, so I am bumping this thread because I want to see a lot more votes which will help me sort out all the Meistersingers, especially the four I own: Solti, Keilberth, Karajan 1951, and Goodall. I am not voting because I really have only heard two, Solti and Goodall, the other two came in Wagner sets and I have not given them a good listen yet. I can say that a quick check says of my three sung-in-German sets, the best sound is Solti, followed by Keilberth, and then Karajan. Oh, are any of these live?
By the way, there are a trio of classic recordings with Paul Schoffler; I'm surprised none of them appear here, I'd put all three of these just behind the Kubelik as among the most satisfying recordings
I adore the Kubelik recording of this work more than any other Wagner recording. Böhm 68 is a good choice as well as the initial Karajan from Bayreuth.
The versions I have are the two by Karajan. As the later one is in the better sound I vote for that even though the first was obviously a special occasion.
Solti says in his memoirs that he was never happy with his first version so he re-recorded it. He says he would like to have done the same with Tristan. Of course he died before that could be done.
I know it gets short shrift from a lot of Wagner fans but Karajan's Dresden Meistersinger is still a nice version and Adam as Sachs is not nearly as awful as some would have you believe.
I actually have a bigger aversion to the over-the-top gimmicky Beckmesser from Geraint Evans, who is barely even singing the role in parts. Besides the superior sound, for me it is a bit stiff and lacks all the energy, wittiness and conversational quality of Karajan's Bayreuth recording. Not awful by any means, it's just not a top contender.
You've hit on two of the best, though I might give a slight edge to Schwarzkopf as the best overall interpretation. I'd also add Elisabeth Schumann and Lisa Della Casa. Gundula Janowitz and Karita Mattila are perhaps just a notch below.
Not the richest voice. Really does not get the true character of Sachs. The recording is otherwise quite nice, but I am looking to the Sawallisch set for perhaps my main set. It is ordered. No the wait.
^^^ I just noticed that when FK posted the large pix of Sawallisch CD set under the name Richard Wagner is not a decorative scroll but a crude drawing of a shoe to reference the wise cobbler Sachs, I didn't realize that he was making shoes for the munchkins......
I am really getting into Meistersinger now. Have listened to nothing else for probably a week now. Love it. I think it is now up at the top with Hollander and the Ring. What an awesome opera! I am listening to Sawallisch and really am not finding any better (in Allumusic sound clips), not even Kubelik. I would grab a Kubelik if the price were right, but so far they are all expensive. But Sawallisch is a very fine performance. I heard there is a LOT of humor in this opera, most of which is lost in the translation. so sad. Maybe I need to learn German. :lol:
I am really getting into Meistersinger now. Have listened to nothing else for probably a week now. Love it. I think it is now up at the top with Hollander and the Ring. What an awesome opera! I am listening to Sawallisch and really am not finding any better (in Allumusic sound clips), not even Kubelik. I would grab a Kubelik if the price were right, but so far they are all expensive. But Sawallisch is a very fine performance. I heard there is a LOT of humor in this opera, most of which is lost in the translation. so sad. Maybe I need to learn German. :lol:
That's one place where I found Met's somewhat simplified subtitles accompanied by stage action useful. Its humour and wit really became evident to me. It's a marvellous opera!
I thought about sampling that Janowski Meistersinger but it is really pricey. Seems all those janowski Wagner recordings in that style of packing are very expensive. But tonight is another go-around with the Sawallisch Meistersinger and I have no complaints. A fine recording and my favorite Meistersinger so far.
Sampling around I found this one, which seems like a very good recording, but again pricey. What is it about Meistersinger that the used copies are all so expensive?
I'm not a big fan of this one. Frantz is fine, if a bit one-dimensional, but Lemnitz sounds old, and Aldenhoff is a provincial bawler. Superb conducting, though, and it's good that this has been issued in decent sound with a nice presentation.
I keep coming back to the Sawallisch recording of Meistersinger. Listened to most of the first act of the 1970(71?) Karajan and quit going back to Sawallisch.
Hey, so this opera is three acts, but sure seems it should be four, no?
Wikipedia says of Act 3, Scene 5:
Almost an act in itself, this scene occupies about 45 minutes of the two hours of Act 3 and is separated from the preceding four scenes by Verwandlungsmusik, a transforming interlude.
Given Act 3 is 2 hours long, and this scene really is so different from the preceding parts, I really feel like separating Act 3, Scene 5 out from the rest of Act 3. Wonder why he kept it in Act 3 instead of having an Act 4?
I keep coming back to the Sawallisch recording of Meistersinger. Listened to most of the first act of the 1970(71?) Karajan and quit going back to Sawallisch.
Hey, so this opera is three acts, but sure seems it should be four, no?
Wikipedia says of Act 3, Scene 5:
Given Act 3 is 2 hours long, and this scene really is so different from the preceding parts, I really feel like separating Act 3, Scene 5 out from the rest of Act 3. Wonder why he kept it in Act 3 instead of having an Act 4?
After Rienzi (and with the exception of the prelude Rheingold), Wagner always did three acts, even though some ended up seeming overloaded (Act I of Götterdämmerung, Act II of Walküre, Act III of Siegfried).
A three-act Meistersinger was also structurally necessary because the work as a whole reflects the AAB pattern of the Prize Song.
Thanks to my musical ignorance and lack of any knowledge of German or any other language beyond English (and very rudimentary biblical Greek), I am happy to say that Domingo's awful German does not bother me a bit. I don't know what undercast means in a practical sense, and Eva works even if she is much better as Senta in the Hollander DVD. Will it replace Sawallisch for me. Don't know. Time will tell.
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