Teatro Actual’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg falls wanting expectations – Seen and Heard Worldwide

Spain Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Teatro Actual Refrain and Orchestra / Pablo Heras Casado (conductor). Teatro Actual, Madrid, 24.4.2024. (JMI)

This nice Wagner opera was final completed at Teatro Actual in 2001 by Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden, led by the now, sadly, comparatively inactive Daniel Barenboim. Expectations for the present performances ran excessive for this co-production with the Royal Danish Opera of Copenhagen and Nationwide Theatre Brno, however we had been disenchanted. It was an appropriate manufacturing however it obtained reasonably irregular musical course and had a lower than good forged.

The motion takes place firstly of the 20 th century. There’s a single set for the three acts: giant panels with simulated stained glass on each side and a panel on the again. Platforms are added within the heart of the stage the place, in Act I, the scebe with the Mastersingers takes place. Within the second act, a collection of miniature homes characterize town of Nürnberg. These homes disappear in Act III and are changed by the workshop and home of Hans Sachs. For the meadow scene, the again panel is raised to disclose a wonderful picture of a mountain panorama. The manufacturing narrates the plot of the opera comPetently with out resorting to the ‘originalities’ of which fashionable administrators are so fond, and the stage course is okay, particularly within the final act.

If the function of the conductor is vital in any opera, it’s much more so in Wagnerian ones. Therefore my eagerness see what Pablo Heras Casado, presumably our most acknowledged conductor, may obtain. Each ultimately 12 months’s Bayreuth Pageant and within the upcoming one, he’s on the helm of Parsifal. His conducting was considerably uneven with clear ups and downs over the course of the opera. It was definitely removed from these events of which I’ve indelible recollections: Zubin Mehta and Kirill Petrenko in Munich and, extra lately, Christian Thielemann in Dresden. Heras Casado’s conducting was notably disappointing in Act I, with a flat overture and a sound beneath what could be anticipated from this orchestra. Issues improved within the second act and, extra clearly, in Act III.

There isn’t a doubt that the good protagonist of this opera is Hans Sachs, sung right here by bass-baritone Gerald Finley, who was the very best of the forged vocally. He’s a real artist, as he has proved all through his lengthy profession. At 64, he retains that stable voice which has by no means been too massive however is ample in quantity. He solely offers some signal of weak spot within the excessive notes.

Tenor Tomislav Mužek was Walther von Stolzing who appeared inadequate to me for such an necessary character. His voice is passable within the center, however it’s clearly contracted. It has the added drawback that the timbre adjustments because it strikes upwards, leading to tight and unattractive sounds and ultimately reaching a falsetto.

Baritone Leigh Melrose was Beckmesser. He gave an exaggerated interpretation of the character – whether or not it was his choice or the director’s. Soprano Nicole Chevalier was an accurate Eva Pogner. There isn’t a explicit brilliance to her voice, and I usually discovered her singing monotonous. Bass Jongmin Park has an enormous voice, which is well-suited to the character of Pogner.

David, Hans Sachs’s apprentice, was tenor Sebastian Kohlhepp whose mild voice fits this character. He did properly in phrases each of singing and appearing. Magdalene was mezzo-soprano Anna Lapkovskaja, who was nice. The Mastersingers had been correctly coated, and bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk was a sonorous Evening Watchman.

José M. Irurzun

Manufacturing:
Director – Laurent Pelly
Units – Caroline Ginet
Costumes – Laurent Pelly and Jean-Jacques Delmotte
Lighting – Urs Schönebaum
Refrain grasp – José Luis Basso

Forged:
Hans Sachs – Gerald Finley
Walther – Tomislav Mužek
Eva – Nicole Chevalier
Beckmesser – Leigh Melrose
Pogner – Jongmin Park
David – Sebastian Kohlhepp
Magdalene – Anna Lapkovskaja
Evening Watchman – Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Fritz Kothner – José Antonio López
Kunz Vogelgesang – Paul Schweinester
Konrad Nachtigall – Barnaby Actual
Balthasar Zorn – Albert Casals
Ulrich Eisslinger – Kyle van Schoonhoven
Augustin Moser – Jorge Rodríguez Norton
Hermann Ortel – Bjørn Waag
Hans Schwarz – Valeriano Lanchas
Hans Foltz – Frederic Jost