The Master-Singers of Nuremberg by Wagner, Richard, Sun 15 Dec 2024, From (2024/2024), Directed by Andrea Moses, Conductor Alexander Soddy, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

When Richard Wagner first developed ideas for the "Meistersingers of Nuremberg" in the mid-1840s, he had no intention of writing a monumental "festival opera." This work was intended to be a light-hearted comedy, a cheerful and humorous satirical play, to be placed alongside his "Tannhäuser," since both works focus on reflections on art and artists. More than two decades later, a score was produced that is one of the most extensive and complex in the entire repertoire and has sparked quite controversial discussions. The soloists and the choir, but above all the large orchestra, unfold an extraordinary splendor of sound - this can be felt immediately in the prelude to the first act with its C major brilliance and its great upswings full of power and brightness, but also in the final scene on the "festival meadow", in which literally everything that seems conceivable on an opera stage is brought to life. But it is not only the sheer overwhelming presence of sound that is astonishing, but also the immensely high level of compositional technique that Wagner has put into practice here, which proves to be just as impressive in the lyrical, internalized passages. Since the triumphant Munich premiere in June 1868, the "Meistersinger" have been one of the pillars of European musical theater - as a work that demonstrates what is possible in opera (or musical drama) beyond the everyday life of the stage.