Artist

Admin

Tenor (+1)

Matthias Stier

David

Stage director

Stage director (+2)

David Pountney

Lighting designer

Fabrice Kebour

Costume designer

Set designer (+1)

Marie-Jeanne Lecca

Set designer

Leslie Travers

Choreographer

Choreographer (+2)

Denni Sayers

Chorusmaster

Chorusmaster (+3)

Thomas Eitler-de Lint

Tenor (+4)

Sven Hjörleifsson

Kunz Vogelgesang

Bass (+4)

Tobias Schabel

Fritz Kothner

Bass (+2)

Sejong Chang

Nightwatchman

Paul Kaufmann

Balthasar Zorn

Baritone (+3)

Jonathan Michie

Konrad Nachtigall

Baritone (+4)

James Rutherford

Hans Sachs

Bass (+3)

Peter Dolinsek

Hans Foltz

Tenor

Tomislav Mužek

Walther von Stolzing

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Karin Lovelius

Magdalena

Dramaturge

Hella Bartnig

Dramaturge (+1)

Marlene Hahn

Tenor (+2)

Edward Randall

Augustin Moser

Martin Busen

Hans Schwarz

Sebastian Pilgrim

Veit Pogner

Soprano (+2)

Astrid Kessler

Gewandhaus Leipzig

Oper Leipzig

Franz Xaver Schlecht

Herman Ortel

Orchestra

Gewandhausorchester

Opernhaus

Chorus

Chorus of the Oper Leipzig

Zusatzchor of the Leipzig Opera

Conductor

Conductor (+1)

Christoph Gedschold

Andrew Dickinson

Ulrich Eisslinger

Mathias Hausmann

Sixtus Beckmesser

Tenor (+3)

Álvaro Zambrano

Lutz Rademacher

Bass-baritone (+4)

Ralf Lukas

Richard Wagner's opera »Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg« deals like no other of his works with the position of art and artists in society. Unlike the poetry of the Nuremberg masters with their traditional set of rules, art only develops through change and change, so the thesis. Or, as Wagner himself put it: »Children, create something new!«

A competition is to be held on St. John's Day in order to revitalize poetry and to raise awareness of its importance among the citizens of Nuremberg. Goldsmith Veit Pogner throws his only daughter Eva into the ring as the first prize, which ultimately pits arch-rivals Hans Sachs and Sixtus Beckmesser against each other. However, their ambitions are quickly undermined when a stranger named Walther von Stolzing approaches the masters and courts Eva. What meets with the greatest rejection from the other masters makes the shoemaker poet Hans Sachs sit up and take notice: “The bird that sang today had a nice beak.”

Richard Wagner's opera culminates in an enthusiastic celebration of art, an art that keeps reasserting its place at the center of society between the extremes of tradition and avant-garde without betraying itself. David Pountney and Ulf Schirmer know each other from their many years of collaboration at the Bregenz Festival. Now the internationally sought-after director is a guest at the Leipzig Opera for the first time.

alemany