Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg: Libretto

Along with Die Walkure, I ordered Die Meistersinger to give me a even greater look into German opera. I was extremely impressed with the outcome even though I had been told by many people that it was 'heavy' and I should avoid Wagner at all costs. I won't get into the nitty-gritty stuff of comedy/tragedy but in comparison to Die Walkure, it's much lighter and quite funny especially when one character (Beckmesser) happens to steal a song written by someone else and on delivering, messes it all up and makes a fool of himself. The themes continue to come back at every oppurtunity and the whole thing links together as one. Of course Wagner likes his big, fat scores - this one comes in just over 800 pages and the other Dover scores, it opens flat (or reasonably) and doesn't damage the spine, i.e. no creases. Text is all in German apart from a translation of the contents, characters and orchestration so unless you've mastered the German language, get your hands on a german or music dictionary. See through is minimal. $30 is a very good bargain for such a big score.

I am a long-time devotee to Die Meistersinger (which is one of my favorite operas of all time), and have owned this score for over ten years. It is now well worn and the spine has a couple of weak places, but it still holds together quite well--as do all of Dover's well-bound books. This edition has nice, readable engraving--though the rather small dimensions of the page make everything somewhat crowded. Also the sheer thickness of the score makes the book somewhat unwieldy, but considering the price of other editions, this is a steal at Dover's price! As for the work itself, if you set aside all the nit-picking about new vs. old musical styles (which is implicit in the plot, don't get me wrong) and just listen to the music, I don't see how you can fail to enjoy this opera. It is very long, true--but that's Wagner. The plot is one of the merriest of Wagner's whole output, and the music is joyful in like measure. For sheer beauty, my favorite moment in the opera is the quintet in Act III, scene IV, but Walther's prize song ("Morgenlicht Leuchtend"), "Am stillen Herd" and the Prelude to Act I are all close runners up. In addition, being able to study Wagner's masterful orchestration--or look at the sheer number of individual vocal lines in the street fight at the end of Act II--is reason enough to buy this edition.

I feel like raising a point. The previous reviewer called this "Wagner's only comedy." I am going to have to disagree, and not because of his obscure second opera, but because of one of my favorite of his works, the mature Siegfried! What? Crazy! Well, maybe, but hear me out.One cannot help but laugh at that first act with all that witty diologue between the young and ignorant Siegfriend and his evil foster-father Mime. That entire scene cracks me up. The fight with the dragon, in my opinion, is quite humorous when you consider the way irony in it (almost in a David vs. Goliath way). There is yet more comedy in the third act, my favorite line of the entire piece being when Siegfried pulls off Brunhilde's breastplate and declares "Das ist kien Mann!" or "That's no man!" Duh. Siegfried has never seen a woman in his life, and his reaction to Brunhilde's is so naive, and so funny. Then of course, like in all good comedies, they declare love and appear to live happily ever after (at least until Gotterdammerung).Siegfried being a comedy also fits form well. Think about Beethoven's ninth symphony (I'm not saying it fits this symphony exactly, but work with me here) first and second movements are heavily dramatic, where as the third is a bit of a breather, a relief before the great conclusion of the fourth movement (though, of course a triumphant ending rather than tragic in the case of Gotterdammerung).So next time you watch Siegfried, think comedy. Crazy it maybe, but i don't think it is that far-fetched.

Wagner's only comedy (if you don't count Das Liebesverbot, based on Shakespeare's rather difficult Measure for Measure), is basically an initiation ritual. Walther von Stoltzing is in love with a young woman named Eva. He must prove his love by composing a song for the Mastersinger festival; if he wins the competition, he wins Eva. Meistersinger is also a treatise on why Wagnerism is better than the old (read Brahmsian) style of composition. Hans Sach, Walther's sponsor, insists that Walther's first improvised song, Am Stillen Herd, even with its weaknesses, shows much promise. Sixtus Beckmesser, on the other hand, insists that it does not adhere to the classical virtues, and, therefore is unworthy of any attention. The contest enjoins all its competitors to set the poem Morgenlich luectend im Rosigemshind to music. Beckmesser's version is sludge, and he makes a fool of himself singing it. Walther's song, on the other hand, wins both the contest, and Eva. As an argument, Meistersinger is pretty flimsy stuff; Brahms is no Beckmesser. Yet as music drama, Meistersinger is remarkable. Dover reprinted the early Peters edition. There is an English translation of all German frontismatter; unfortunately, however, there is no English glossary of German musical terms. There is a reprint of the original title page, which is kind of fun. The score is too big, and the book too small for podium use, but the book is well made, easy to read, quite reasonably priced, and ideal for the average opera lover.