During Rolf Liebermann’s
time as general manager of the Hamburg
State Opera he commissioned thirteen
opera films for TV, directed for the
medium by Joachim Hess but based on
existing productions in the house. These
films are now being made available on
DVD, to my knowledge for the first time.
Being made 35 to 40 years ago there
are of course technical limitations
as compared to latter-day productions:
the sound is mono and roughly no better
than LP recordings of the 1950s. Fast
camera movements can sometimes blur
the picture. This is a small price to
pay for performances that are not only
historical documents of a by-gone era
but valuable for the high standard of
direction, playing, acting and singing
at one of the more important opera houses
in Europe. I have already lavished praise
on two Mozart operas, Die Zauberflöte
and Le nozze di Figaro and this
Meistersinger is even better.
Indeed I have never felt so engaged
in a performance of this opera either
live or through AV media.
Sets and costumes are
highly realistic and we feel transported
back to16th century Nuremberg.
In the first act we are in St.
Katherine’s Church. In the second we
can imbibe the fragrance from the lilac
outside Hans Sachs’ house. In the third
every nook and cranny of Sachs’ workshop
seems permeated with pitch and wax.
The festival meadow in the final scene
is more abstract: the empty stage, shining
white, is crowded with festively-dressed
people in multifarious colours. Now
and then we get an overview of the different
settings but mostly the cameras are
very active participants in the action,
often on the move, scanning the congregation
in the opening church scene and zooming
in on interesting faces, registering
every movement, gesture or facial expression
throughout the performance, diving into
the crowd in the last scene and, during
Hans Sachs’ long Wahn-monologue, making
the viewer an attentive conversation
partner. One nods approvingly when Sachs
sings Überall Wahn (Delusion
everywhere) and shakes one’s head at
Wer gibt den Namen an? (Who can
put a name to it?). It is indeed a gripping
performance, bringing forth laughter
as well as tears. We never miss a detail
of Beckmesser’s antics, especially in
the scene in Sachs’ workshop, and the
close-up of Eva’s cock-eyed grimace,
when Beckmesser is making a fool of
himself at the song contest, is priceless.
The only blunder, to my mind at least,
is Kothner’s roll-call of the masters
in the first act, where I would have
wished a distinct picture of each of
them; as it is they just flash by. Later
during the performance we get good opportunities
to see their individually chiselled
characters but the question remains:
Who is who?
Whoever they are each
and every one of the masters are excellent
actors, which matters even more in a
performance on TV with so much close-up
shooting than during a stage performance.
Among the masters we find some fairly
well-known singers: Willy Hartmann for
instance, William Workman, who was a
wonderful Papageno on the Zauberflöte
DVD, and a young Franz Grundheber as
Hermann Ortel.
When we move over to
the main characters we note an expressive
portrait of Fritz Kothner by longstanding
Hamburg favourite Hans-Otto Kloose.
According to the booklet Kloose was
a member of the ensemble for thirty
years, clocking up nearly 1,800 appearances
in over one hundred roles. Another mainstay
in Hamburg, the impressively black-voiced
bass Ernst Wiemann, was also a new name
to me but he had an intense international
career, including almost a decade at
the New York Met. Gerhard Unger must
be counted as one of the most important
character tenors during the post-war
era and David was one of his specialities.
He sang the role at Bayreuth in 1951
for Karajan, the recording available
on Naxos. He sang it again for Kempe
in 1958 and also for Kubelik in 1968.
Here, at 54, he still looks and sings
as youthfully as ever and there seems
to be not a trace of routine in his
acting. His Magdalene is the pretty
and lively Ursula Boese who sings with
a roundness of tone few singers have
mustered in this role. Endearingly pretty
and sweet-looking is Arlene Saunders
as Eva and her crystal clear and
warm voice combined with her looks makes
her ideal for the role. Her singing
of the opening solo in the quintet Selig
wie die Sonne (DVD2 tr. 15) is indeed
divine. But she can also pucker up her
brow and adopt a harsher tone when she
is displeased. Richard Cassilly’s Walther
is more ordinary. He is not a very convincing
actor, rather wooden and gawky with
a limited supply of gestures and expressions.
His singing is solid but without much
warmth. In the second act, outside Pogner’s
house he delivers some truly heroic
singing however, worthy a Tristan, a
role he later successfully sang also
at the Met. More through his superb
acting than through his singing, Toni
Blankenheim makes a memorable Beckmesser.
He is a lively and expressive actor
with a perfectly timed body language.
He specialized in modern opera and there
exists a fine recording of Alban Berg’s
Lulu from 1968, recorded in Hamburg
with Leopold Ludwig conducting, Anneliese
Rothenberger, a surprisingly successful
Lulu, Blankenheim as Doctor Schön
and Gerhard Unger as his son Alva. It
is of course the unfinished version
but I believe it would still be attractive
if EMI were to reissue it. There is
also a Wozzeck DVD from Hamburg
coming up.
Giorgio Tozzi, who
sang at the Met for 25 years, is best
known, at least to the record-buying
public, for his many memorable Italian
roles but he was also a fine Boris Godunov
and on records he was an imposing Daland
in Der fliegende Holländer
for Antal Dorati (Decca). He makes a
deeply humane, warm-hearted Hans Sachs,
caring, loving but also authoritative
and stern. He delivers his long and
demanding role with untiring security
and wonderful dark tone. Once or twice
one can discern some strain on the uppermost
notes but apart from this his is one
of the most complete and rounded portraits
of the Nuremberg cobbler I have come
across, second only to Paul Schöffler
on the old Knappertsbusch recording.
Contributing to the
overall success of this production is
the playing of the Hamburg Philharmonic
State Orchestra under the experienced
Leopold Ludwig. Although not one of
the "star" conductors he had
deep insights into Wagner’s music. Just
listening to the act III prelude makes
clear what a fine musician he is. Despite
the fairly primitive sound we can appreciate
Wagner’s masterly orchestration, where
every strand is clearly audible and
Ludwig makes the music breathe. The
cello section’s opening is beautifully
played and the cameras take us on a
guided tour also through the pit. The
chorus is excellent and there is a great
deal of individual acting from the chorus
members. The finale of act II with Beckmesser’s
unsuccessful serenade is just as breakneck
chaotic as one could wish.
I can’t imagine living
with only one version of Die Meistersinger
von Nürnberg, but when in the
future I want to bask in the humour,
warmth and humanity of Wagner’s brightest
creation, this is probably the version
I will return to most often.
Göran Forsling
Chorus of the Hamburg State Opera;
Ballet of the Hamburg State Opera 
