SOME OBSERVATIONS BY MEMBERS OF OUR SOCIETY
FROM COLIN MACKERRAS
Seeing The Mastersingers of Nuremberg in Melbourne was a truly spectacular and splendid experience.
The venue was the Royal Exhibition Building, which dates from the nineteenth century and is a UNESCO World-Heritage listed building. This was somewhat unusual as a venue, excellent in some ways, not so good in others. The seating was built specifically for the performances and was not particularly comfortable. Act I took place when it was still light outside, meaning the venue was also light, not darkened like a theatre. The very large venue, not designed with any priority on good acoustics, meant that the sound of the music was not particularly clear, and I would even call it muffled in some places.
I felt a bit dissatisfied at the end of Act I, I have to say. However, it definitely improved in Acts II and III, and I ended up loving the venue for its grandeur and scale, and the whole staging. The final scene was a tour de force all round. The production was very good with successful attempts made to recreate Nuremberg in the sixteenth century. The performance was excellent. British Conductor Anthony Negus did a superb job holding the enormous cast and orchestra together and bringing out the emotion of the music. Warwick Fyfe as Hans Sachs was spectacular, very much in style and with a large voice very controlled and suited to the part. All singers were superb, though I found James Egglestone as Walther not quite strong enough, at least from where I was sitting.
The main burden of my reaction was that it was just wonderful to have so good, large-scale and appropriately produced performance of this great, great work in Australia!! All credit to the performers and Melbourne Opera. I know it’s not the first time, and we have been having some more fully staged Wagner operas recently. But great performances of the best Wagner operas are still too rare in Australia. Let’s have more of them!!!
Colin Mackerras
FROM STEPHEN EMMERSON
Melbourne Opera courageously presented Die Meistersinger undaunted by the work’s scale and demands. The setting in the world-heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building gave the event a special aura through the building’s sense of space and height – not to mention history. Given that natural light could not be suppressed inside the space, it was wonderfully appropriate to transition into night across Act 2. The acoustic however was a far from ideal, lacking incisive clarity although I was fortunate to be sitting close to the stage and, as one got used to it, that seemed to become less of an issue.
There have been much better performances of this ambitious work and, for those of us who have come to love it over many years from other productions and recordings, the limitations of this performance were all too apparent. The cast was uneven with only a handful of world-class voices that could project well above the orchestra. Outstanding was Warwick Fyfe’s Sachs in a performance that distinctly grew in authority and stature as the evening progressed. Also noteworthy were Christopher Hillier’s Beckmesser, Deborah Humble’s Magdalena and Steven Gallop’s Pogner. Anthony Negus’s conducting of the work was fluent but didn’t allow much room for breath or flexibility.
The production was traditional – thank goodness! – with well-designed sets and costumes that blended well with the building’s colours. While every new production of the Ring or Parsifal will be individual, Die Meistersinger is perfectly well served by such a straightforward approach. In this respect it resembles Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, the only other comic opera, at least in my humble opinion, of comparable stature. Leave such masterpieces to speak for themselves without undue interference and satisfaction can be guaranteed.
Despite what might seem my lukewarm, perhaps ungenerous, comments above, I must say that I found the overall experience moving and touching. Have recordings spoilt us so that we can no longer enjoy performances that are anything less than world-class? I certainly hope not. The work’s compassionate, generous humanity spoke eloquently, at least to this listener, through this honest, sincere and utterly commendable performance. I remain very pleased to have experienced it. Melbourne Opera deserves to be commended for their enterprise and ongoing achievements.
Stephen Emmerson
FROM GEOFF FISHER
Melbourne Opera is an enterprising company which has become a major force in the presentation of the Wagner repertoire in Australia. Its production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which I attended on Tuesday February 18th, was of a very high standard.
The venue, the Royal Exhibition Building, is a splendid heritage-listed structure, but poses some problems for the staging of opera. The cavernous nature of the hall, with the temporary stage situated under the large dome, provided an acoustic which could be unkind to singers and orchestra. From where I sat in row ‘J’, orchestral sound was occasionally a little occluded in climaxes. Audience members at the back of the hall may have noticed this more. Nonetheless, everyone rose to the occasion, providing an excellent ensemble performance with alert orchestral accompaniment. Under conductor Anthony Negus, the orchestra paced the action well, being responsive to the complexities and beauties of the score. The chorus was both well-drilled and enthusiastic. None of the soloists fell short. Foremost among them was Warwick Fyfe, whose debut in the key role of Hans Sachs was impressive. The minimalist sets, thoughtfully designed by Andrew Bailey, complemented the rich Victorian interior of the building and made the most of the restricted space on the stage.
Geoff Fisher
Comments are closed.