Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – Glyndebourne
It’s a delight to see a virtual performance of David McVicar’s 2011 Glyndebourne production of Wagner’s epic midsummer opera that is more comic than comedy.
At a church service, Walter (Marco Jentzsch) becomes smitten with Eva (Anna Gabler), who tells him she is to be engaged the next day to the winner of a song contest sponsored by the local Mastersingers. Her friend, Magdalene (Michaela Selinger), asks her boyfriend David (Topi Lehtipuu), an apprentice to cobbler Hans Sachs (Gerald Finley), to explain the rules of the competition. The Mastersingers arrive for a preliminary song trial and Walther upsets smug town clerk Beckmesser (Johannes Martin Kränzle) who is keen to win. When Eva’s father, goldsmith Veit Pogner (Alastair Miles), confirms her hand as the prize, Sachs suggests she sh...