Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition]

Derek Hammond-Stroud (Performer), Norman Bailey (Performer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Reginald Goodall (Conductor), Ann Robson (Performer), Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra (Orchestra), Margaret Curphey (Performer), Alberto Remedios (Performer), David Kane (Performer), David Morton Gray (Performer), Dino Pardi (Performer), Gregory Dempsey (Performer), John Brecknock (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Derek Hammond-Stroud, Norman Bailey, Ann Robson, Margaret Curphey, Alberto Remedios, et al.
• Orchestra: Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: Reginald Goodall
• Composer: Richard [Classical] Wagner
• Audio CD (July 29, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B001ANZQZU
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,934 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 29-JUL-2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Meistersinger' in English: Good News, Bad News -- Mostly Good, August 3, 2008

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J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition] (Audio CD)

This is a much-talked-about live recording, long thought lost, of a BBC broadcast in 1968 of an English-language production of Wagner's 'Die Meistersinger' from the Sadler's Wells Opera (now called the English National Opera). It was conducted by Reginald Goodall who was all but unknown then but who soon became known and much lauded for his conducting of Wagner's operas. It has an all-English cast, all but one of whom were singing their roles for the first time; the exception was Norman Bailey, who had sung Hans Sachs in Germany (in German, of course).

First, the bad news: Sound quality is not the best. There is some tape hiss, occasional poor balances, a good deal of stage noise (my goodness, you can really hear a lot of clumping around in the last act entrance of the apprentices!), and somewhat dodgy stereo separation. Early on Norman Bailey's voice is rather woolly, although it improves and his vocal acting is marvelous. Margaret Curphey's Eva can turn acidulous, but she is terrific in the last act Quintet. There are some cuts -- primarily a verse from David's first act catalog of tones and from Beckmesser's second act song. The orchestral playing is not always as suave as one might hope. And, of course, there will be those who will be put off by this quintessentially German opera being sung in English. And indeed the translation, by Frederick Jameson (with some changes by Norman Feasey and Gordon Kember) has a few thee's and thou's that make it sound a bit old-fashioned. Still it is an effective translation and it sings well.

Any negatives are outweighed by the good things in the recording. Bailey's Sachs is effective -- and he has the best diction of anyone in the cast; he is human, affecting, suitably humorous, gruff, tender or serious as needed. The David of Gregory Dempsey is one the best I've ever heard. Derek Hammond-Stroud plays Beckmesser as a bit of a caricature, but he sings the music rather than sketching it as many Beckmessers do. Alberto Remedios is one of the best Walthers on record. His tone is meltingly lyrical and he is actually able to sing softly when required, unlike some. He is ardent, heroic, and naďve in turn. His Prize Song is magical, aided significantly by Goodall's rapturously paced conducting. Noel Mangin's Pogner is excellent in his long aria. The rest of the mastersingers are at least adequate or, as in the case of David Bowman as Kothner, much better. Ann Robson is a younger-sounding Magdalene and she sings well. Stafford Dean, then quite young, is a marvelous Nightwatchman. The chorus is sterling from their very first notes at the end of the overture to the paean to Sachs that closes the opera.

The real hero of this performance is Goodall. This is a leisurely-paced 'Mastersingers' but there is never a lull or longueur. Rhythms are well-sprung and the quieter or more lyrical moments are breathtaking, as in the Act III prelude or the ecstatic last act Quintet. He can build up real excitement, too, as in the overture and the third act entrance of the apprentices and mastersingers, not to speak of the riot that ends Act II.

The boxed 4CD set is being offered for the price of 3CDs and it includes a complete libretto. This will probably not be anyone's only 'Meistersinger', but it certainly belongs on the shelves of those who love this opera and have other recordings of it.

Scott Morrison

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars memorable live performance in English, August 25, 2009

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Ivor E. Zetler (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition] (Audio CD)

My first experience of a live Wagner opera performance was with this production and featured many of the cast singing in this recording. Sir Charles Mackerras was conducting. I was on a Wagnerian high for the next two days! Years later I was to become personally acquainted with Alberto Remedios; he is alive and well and lives in the same Sydney suburb where I work. He often mentioned the BBC tapes and his efforts to persuade Chandos to release this Meistersinger recording on disc. Well, here is is in all its glory and the wait has certainly been worth while.

Reginald Goodall was a Wagnerian specialist whose Sadler's Wells / English National Opera performances have attained a hallowed status in England. He insisted on copious rehearsal time with his cast and orchestra. His tempi were on the leisurely side but, as evidenced on this recording, the music flows very naturally.

This Meistersinger is a true ensemble performance, with scarcely a weak link in the vocal cast. Norman Bailey was a renowned Hans Sachs in the seventies and eighties; one can hear why when listening to his interpretation in this performance. He has the appropriate gravity, firmness and sensitivity required for the role. Alberto Remedios is a splendid Walther; his voice has a golden, ringing quality and has the essential absence of a wobble. He comes close to equalling Sandor Konya (on the Kubelik recording) who is the finest Walther on disc. Derek Hammond-Stroud is an excellent and relatively straight-laced Beckmesser.

The orchestra, while hardly of world class standard, play above their weight under the inspired direction of Goodall. He, ultimately is the star of the show.

The BBC mono recording is on the dry side but is quite listenable. It adequately conveys the excitement and frisson of this live performance. The fact that the opera is sung in English should not deter the prospective listener; in fact the ability to understand the proceedings can often be an asset.

I strongly recommend this special recording to all lovers of this most wonderful of operas. It joins the Kubelik, Karajan/Dresden, Kempe performances as preferred versions of this opera on CD.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a performance in average, broadcast sound, April 15, 2011

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Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Richard Wagner: The Mastersingers of Nuremberg [Archive Edition] (Audio CD)

Several reviewers have addressed the point regarding the relatively poor sound of this welcome issue. I would only say 1) that many of us are used to listening with pleasure to vintage recordings in far worse sound 2) I had little difficulty in following the English without the libretto, especially given the crystalline diction of Bailey, Dempsey et al 3) listening on my computer with very ordinary headphones was a perfectly pleasant experience 4) the singing, conducting and playing is of such a high order that I found consideration of mere sonics did not even enter my head, so captivated was I by Goodall's pacing.

I was already familiar with Gregory Dempsey's exemplary Mime in Goodall's English "Siegfried" but was still unprepared for the success he makes of David the apprentice, who is frankly often a real bore. Here Dempsey not only makes him sympathetic and interesting through his vivid characterisation, he also gives us much singing which is lovely as singing per se; he has a bright, clear, unforced tenor with ringing top notes - a voice which both matches contrasts ideally with Remedios's famous heroic timbre. All the male voices here are exemplary in their roles. Noel Mangin's beautifully fruity bass is perfect for Pogner; a previous reviewer rightly describes it as "old-fashioned", meaning it, I trust, as a compliment. Derek Hammond-Stroud's light baritone Beckmesser is amusingly inflected but unexaggerated and invariably sung rather than barked. Remedios and Dempsey I have already praised; both have never since been bettered, even if Ben Heppner has been Remedios's equal and certain of their predecessors might have excelled them. I have always loved Norman Bailey's grainy, resonant bass-baritone; already experienced in singing the role in German, he seems utterly relaxed and apt singing in English as a genial, avuncular Sachs, brimful of old-fashioned wisdom and common sense. Stafford Dean is ideal as the Nightwatchman.

About the two ladies I am slightly less enthusiastic; Margaret Curphey is a little shrill and Ann Robson a tad wobbly. Neither is blessed with a major voice but they certainly do not let the side down. The chorus are lusty, in tune and very characterful, the orchestra remarkably at ease.

The miracle is Goodall's conducting. There is no hint of the extreme slowness for which he is (in)famous; in fact, I have never heard this opera unfold with such lightness, flexibility and spring; no longueurs, no dragging, just a perfect realisation of the Gesamtkunstwerk as Wagner would have dreamed of it - despite this most patriotic of his operas being sung in English. (Though Wagner would in any case most certainly have approved of its being sung in translation; he was clear about the importance of the text.) Another reviewer wonders why Wagner works so well in English compared with Verdi; obviously the rhythms and vocabulary of English and German are more similar given their common Anglo-Saxon roots and that is particularly evident in this very workable translation.

Of course, the biggest test in the whole opera is the sublime quintet - and here, at a gentle, flowing andante it really lifts off in a way that not every performance can manage. Its poise and serenity represent a complete vindication of Goodall's masterful way with the score and elicits the only occasion on which the audience breaks into spontaneous applause.

Being in English and in mediocre sound with stage noises, this might not perhaps be your only recording of this joyous, humane work but it remains a valuable and immensely enjoyable supplement; I would as soon listen to it as almost any other version.