WAGNER Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg

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0 Sachs disclaims the poem and asks if anyone @ Sachs wisely advises him not to spurn the art of the ADD present can sing the song as it should be sung and win Mastersingers, who have preserved true German art, the title of Mastersinger. inherited from court traditions, and will protect it from Great Opera Recordings danger. 8.110872-75 ! Walther steps forward and sings the prize song and is crowned with the garland by Eva, while Pogner offers # All join in praise of German art. Eva takes the him the golden chain of a Mastersinger. Walther, garland from Walther and bestows it on Sachs, who in 4 CDs however, disclaims this honour, desiring happiness turn bestows the golden chain on Walther. All pay WAGNER alone. tribute to Hans Sachs. Keith Anderson Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Otto Edelmann • Elisabeth Schwarzkopf • Hans Hopf • Erich Kunz Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra • Herbert von Karajan Recorded in 1951

Producer’s Note

This classic recording of Die Meistersinger was made during a rehearsal and five performances given at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in July and August of 1951. It was originally taken down on magnetic tape, and was first issued both on LP (from which the present transfer derives) and on 68 sides in the largest set of 78 rpm discs ever devoted to a single work.

The original Columbia/EMI recording is problematic in several respects. The splices joining portions taken from different performances are sometimes glaringly obvious; there are occasional dropouts and frequent volume level fluctuations; the voices are caught rather closely, and tend toward harshness in louder passages; and save for the big ensemble pieces (such as the start of the festival scene in Act 3), there is little sense of the unique acoustical qualities of the Festspielhaus which Decca’s engineers caught so well in Knappertsbusch’s contemporaneous recording of Parsifal (Naxos Historical 8.110221-24).

In this restoration, I have tried to bring out the warmth that I hear on the original LPs, rather than boost the high frequencies in an attempt to create an illusion of greater presence or immediacy. This approach, I feel, also preserves the rich bass frequencies demanded by the authentic Wagnerian sound.

Mark Obert-Thorn 8.110872-75 12 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 2

Great Opera Recordings CD 4 5 As Walther sings, Sachs writes down the words of his song, which moves him greatly, while advising him 1 Sachs calls for the baptism of the new song, Richard of the necessary techniques. They leave to prepare for promoting David from apprentice to journeyman. the coming contest. WAGNER 2 Eva prays for the song’s success, joined by (1813-1983) Scene 3 Walther, while Sachs muses on his own renunciation of Eva, in favour of the young lovers. 6 Beckmesser appears outside the shop, which he Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg quickly enters, limping and suffering from the beating 3 They leave all together for the celebration. Comic Opera in 3 Acts David had given him the night before. Uneasily he limps round the room, recalling the events of the night, Scene 5 and eventually sees the paper on which Sachs has Hans Sachs, cobbler ...... Otto Edelmann (bass) written Walther’s words, apparently Sachs’ own contest 4 The scene is now an open meadow by a stream, song. Hearing Sachs approach, he puts the paper in his with a raised platform for the Mastersingers and guests. Veit Pogner, goldsmith ...... Frederick Dalberg (bass) pocket, but then produces it as evidence of Sachs’ The guildsmen enter, first the shoemakers, then the Kunz Vogelgesang, furrier ...... Erich Majkut (tenor) treachery in intending to compete himself. Sachs denies town musicians, the journeymen, tailors and bakers. Konrad Nachtigall, tinsmith ...... Hans Berg (bass) the charge and tells Beckmesser he may use the poem, if he wants, assuring him that he will not reveal the true 5 The apprentices, with David, dance around the Sixtus Beckmesser, town clerk ...... Erich Kunz (baritone) authorship. Beckmesser hurries away, prepared to learn girls, to the sound of the town pipers. Finally the Fritz Kothner, baker ...... Heinrich Pflanzl (bass) the puzzling words of the poem and, in gratitude, Mastersingers march in, followed by Pogner and Eva. Balthasar Zorn, pewterer ...... Josef Janko (tenor) promising to vote for Sachs as Marker. Sachs is quietly satisfied with the outcome, musing on the malice 6 The apprentices call for silence, now all have taken Ulrich Eisslinger, grocer ...... Karl Mikorey (tenor) Beckmesser has shown and his just reward. their places. Augustin Moser, tailor ...... Gerhard Stolze (tenor) Hermann Ortel, soapmaker ...... Heinz Tandler (bass) Scene 4 7 Sachs steps forward and all join in singing the chorale Wach’auf! Hans Schwarz, stocking-weaver ...... Heinz Borst (bass) 7 Eva, richly dressed, enters the shop, seeking to have Hans Foltz, coppersmith ...... Arnold van Mill (bass) her new shoes adjusted. She is overwhelmed when 8 Sachs addresses the company, thanking them and Walther von Stolzing, a young Franconian knight ...... Hans Hopf (tenor) Walther enters in his knightly costume. urging the Mastersingers to bear in mind the importance of the prize offered by Pogner, the hand of his daughter. David, Sachs’ apprentice ...... Gerhard Unger (tenor) 8 Sachs suggest that Walther sing the third verse of Pogner thanks him, while Beckmesser is agitated at the Eva, Pogner’s daughter ...... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) his trial song, while he himself works on the shoes. Eva difficulties of the new poem and seeks Sachs’ support. Magdalena, her nurse ...... Ira Malaniuk (soprano) is strongly moved, bursts into tears and sinks on Sachs’ The oldest is to begin, and the apprentices lead breast, while Walther seizes his hand in gratitude. Beckmesser to the mound from which he is to perform. A Night Watchman ...... Werner Faulhaber (bass) He stumbles at first, and there are unflattering 9 Eva thanks Sachs for all he has done for her and comments from the bystanders as to his eligibility as a Bayreuth Festival Chorus (Chorus Master: Wilhelm Pitz) Walther, and Sachs assures her he would never have bridegroom. wished to echo the fate of King Marke, when Tristan Bayreuth Festival Orchestra fell in love with Isolde, the King’s betrothed. 9 Beckmesser embarks on his contest song, which is Herbert von Karajan, conductor Magdalena and David enter the shop, both dressed for so clumsy as to bring only laughter from the assembly. Recorded 27th July and 5th, 16th, 19th, 21st and 24th August, 1951 in the Festspielhaus, Bayreuth the festival. He angrily blames Sachs, before rushing away. First issued on Columbia LX 1465 through 1498 (78 rpm) and 33CX 1021 through 1025 (LP) 8.110872-75 2 11 8.110872-75 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 10

Scene 5 Magdalena and emerges with a cudgel, to deal with the CD 1 70:09 CD 2 73:19 offender. There is general commotion, observed 7 As they leave, Walther appears in the street, seen by secretly by Eva and Walther, as David attacks Act I 70:09 Act I (concluded) 13:28 Eva, to her delight. He tells her of his failure and her Beckmesser. The horn of the approaching night- father’s pledge that she may only marry a Mastersinger. watchman is heard, and Sachs comes out of his shop, Scene 1 1 Fanget an! He recalls his ordeal, as he sang of love, while the seizing the arm of Walther, who has drawn his sword, 1 Prelude 9:11 (Walther, the Masters, Beckmesser, Sachs) 5:35 Mastersingers clung to their traditional rules. He urges and pushing Eva towards her father, who has come out (Orchestra) her to run away with him. The horn of the night- to see what is happening. He pushes David before him 2 Halt! Meister! Nicht so geeilt! 7:52 watchman is heard, and Walther lays his hand on his and draws Walther into his house, while women pour 2 Da zu dir der Heiland kam 3:14 (Sachs, Beckmesser, Nachtigall, Kothner, Pogner, sword, but is calmed by Eva, who tells him to hide for water on the commotion below, in which others have (Congregation) the other Masters) the moment. Magdalena calls her into the house. now joined, so that all is silent again when the night- watchman appears. 3 Verweilt! – Ein Wort! 8:30 Act II 59:52 8 The night-watchman passes, calling ten o’clock. (Walther, Eva, Magdalene, David) Hans Sachs, meanwhile, has overheard the lovers and CD 3 Scene 1 must prevent any elopement. Eva comes out again, Scene 2 3 Johannistag! Johannistag! 3:56 dressed in Magdalena’s clothes, ready to make her Act III 4 David, was stehst? 15:14 (Apprentices, David, Magdalene, Sachs) escape with Walther. Sachs allows a light to shine from (Apprentices, David, Walther) his house onto the couple, who withdraw, but as they 1 The Prelude includes motifs from Sachs’ chorale Scene 2 plan to leave, they are interrupted by the arrival of ‘Wach’auf!’ and from the Cobbler’s Song. Scene 3 4 Lass seh’n, ob Meister Sachs zu Haus? 6:36 Beckmesser. 5 Seid meiner Treue wohl versehen 4:23 (Pogner, Eva, Magdalene, Sachs, David) Scene 1 (Pogner, Beckmesser, Walther, Sachs, 9 Beckmesser is about to start his song, when Sachs Vogelgesang, Nachtigall) Scene 3 allows his light to shine on the street again and starts 2 The scene is in Sachs’ workshop. The cobbler sits 5 Was duftet doch der Flieder 5:44 hammering, at his work, singing his Cobbler’s Song of reading. David slips in with a basket of flowers, from 6 Zu einer Freiung und Zunftberatung 2:48 (Sachs) the expulsion of Eve from Paradise. Beckmesser is the bottom of which he takes a sausage and a cake. (Kothner, Pogner, Vogelgesang, Ortel, Zorn, angry at the interruption, while Eva and Walther Sachs noisily turns a page of his book and David starts Nachtigall, Moser, an Apprentice, David, Sachs, Scene 4 wonder at the meaning and purpose of the song. up, assuring his master that he has delivered Beckmesser, Eisslinger, Foltz, Schwartz) 6 Gut’n Abend, Meister! 9:50 Magdalena appears at the window, dressed as Eva, and Beckmesser’s shoes and begs forgiveness for his (Eva, Sachs, Magdalene) Beckmesser tells Sachs not to bother any more about the behaviour of the night before, explaining the cause. 7 Das schöne Fest, Johannistag 4:49 shoes he is making for him, but would like advice from Sachs asks him to sing his St John’s Day chorale, which (Pogner) Scene 5 him on his song. Sachs reminds him of his taunts earlier he does well enough, adding his congratulations to 7 Da ist er! 5:17 in the day, and Beckmesser angrily tells him that he will Sachs on the latter’s name-day and urging him to defeat 8 Das heisst ein Wort! 10:20 (Eva, Magdalene, Walther) never be Marker for the Mastersingers. Sachs, however, Beckmesser in the contest and win the hand of Eva. (The Masters, Apprentices, Sachs, Pogner, will listen, and mark any faults with the blows of his Beckmesser) 8 Hört, ihr Leut’ und lasst euch sagen 3:12 hammer. 3 As David leaves, Sachs muses on the folly of (Night-Watchman, Sachs, Walther, Eva) human malice and the events of the night, and his 9 Am stillen Herd in Winterszeit 8:07 0 Beckmesser starts his inept serenade, interrupted all intention to steer folly to a good end. (Walther, Sachs, Beckmesser, Kothner, 9 Jerum! Jerum! 13:26 the time by Sachs’ hammering and suggested Vogelgesang, Nachtigall) (Sachs, Beckmesser, Walther, Eva) corrections. Beckmesser angrily continues his song, and Scene 2 Sachs his hammering, until song and shoes are finished. 0 Was euch zum Liede Richt’ und Schnur 3:33 0 Den Tag seh’ ich erscheinen 5:45 4 Walther enters from the next room and tells Sachs (Kothner, Walther, Beckmesser) (Beckmesser, Sachs) ! Windows open along the street, as Beckmesser of a dream he has had, which Sachs tells him should boasts of his knowledge of the rules and intention to win form the substance of his song. Songs should temper the contest. David sees someone serenading his beloved youth, spring and ardour with experience. 8.110872-75 10 3 8.110872-75 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 4

! Darf ich mich Meister nennen 6:06 CD 4 55:13 9 Walther claims the great medieval poet-singer draws on. David recalls the apprentices’ song and is (Beckmesser, Sachs, Neighbours, David, Walther von der Vogelweide as his teacher, while in greeted by Magdalena, who brings him a basket of food, Magdalene, Apprentices, Journeymen, Masters, Act III (concluded) 55:13 spring he listened to the birds, claims that are greeted which she takes back when she hears of Walther’s Women, Pogner, Walther) contemptuously by Beckmesser. Walther is asked to apparent failure. The apprentices have overheard their 1 Ein Kind ward hier geboren 4:00 sing, and proposes a song of love, which Beckmesser, exchange and tease David. His retaliation is prevented CD 3 68:56 (Sachs) the Marker, prepares to fault at every turn, reminding by the appearance of Sachs, and they go together into 2 Selig, wie die Sonne 4:41 him that after seven faults any further mistake will lead the house. Act III 68:56 (Eva, Sachs, Walther, David, Magdalene) to failure. Scene 2 1 Prelude 7:27 3 Nun Junker! Kommt! 2:21 0 Kothner reads out the rules of composition of a (Orchestra) (Sachs) master-song, its sections, verses, rhymes and melodic 4 Pogner and Eva, returning from a walk, stop before form. Walther sits in the singer’s chair, and Beckmesser Sachs’ house, as Pogner would speak with him. They Scene 1 Scene 5 calls for him to begin. sit, as Pogner thinks better of interrupting Sachs. Eva 2 Gleich, Meister! Hier! 7:53 4 Sankt Crispin, lobet ihn! 3:16 persuades him to go into his house, while Magdalena (David, Sachs) (The Shoemakers, the Tailors, the Bakers) CD 2 emerges, telling Eva of Walther’s failure. She decides to speak to Sachs later. 3 Wahn! Wahn! 7:48 5 Herr Je! Herr Je! (Dance of the Apprentices) 1 Walther begins, singing of the start of spring (Sachs) (Apprentices, David) 3:10 through the countryside. He contrasts this with winter, Scene 3 while always Beckmesser’s chalk is heard, as the Scene 2 6 Silentium! Silentium! 3:42 Marker records the mistakes. Walther continues his 5 As Magdalena and Eva withdraw into their house, 4 Grüss’ Gott, mein Junker! 9:02 (Entrance of the Mastersingers) song, now a celebration of love. Eventually Beckmesser Sachs is seen in his shop, musing on the distracting (Sachs, Walther) (Apprentices, All the People) interrupts, showing his slate, covered with chalk marks. scent of lilac blossom, before returning to his work. He Pogner would hear Walther, but the other Mastersingers continues to think of Walther’s song, so innovative and 5 Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein 9:52 7 Wach’ auf 2:34 agree with Beckmesser, finding no sense in Walther’s yet familiar, like the song of birds in May, inspired by (Walther, Sachs) (All the People) song. nature.

Scene 3 8 Euch macht ihr’s leicht 7:48 2 They are interrupted by Hans Sachs, who finds Scene 4 6 Ein Werbelied! 15:22 (Sachs, Pogner, Beckmesser, Kothner, the People, interest in Walther’s song, to Beckmesser’s distaste and (Beckmesser, Sachs) the Apprentices) insults. Sachs accuses Beckmesser of personal jealousy, 6 Hans Sachs goes on with his work, interrupted by while the latter tells the cobbler to stick to his last and Eva’s greeting. He tells her that she must wear her new Scene 4 9 Morgen ich leuchte in rosigem Schein 3:59 finish the shoes he expects for the festival. Walther tries shoes the next day as a bride, and the shoes on which he 7 Sieh’ Ev’chen! Dacht’ ich doch, wo sie blieb’! (Beckmesser, the Masters, the People) to continue, to general objections, and when his song is now working are for the man who may marry her, (Sachs, Eva) 3:59 comes to an end, supported by the apprentices. He Beckmesser. Eva suggests that Sachs, a widower, would 0 Das Lied, fürwahr, ist nicht von mir 4:31 leaves, and the rest follow, leaving Sachs alone in be more acceptable to her, as he has known her since 8 Weilten die Sterne im lieblichen Tanz? 3:36 (Sachs, the Masters, the People, the Apprentices) thought, as the boys remove the benches and singer’s she was a child. Magdalena calls to Eva, while Sachs (Walther, Sachs) chair. tells her that Walther has no hope, as one born a Master ! Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein 8:22 and therefore unrecognised by those who have worked 9 O Sachs! Mein Freund! 3:57 (Walther, the People, Sachs, the Masters, Pogner, Act II hard to master the rules of their art. Magdalena urges (Eva, Sachs) Eva) Eva to go in, as her father is calling for her. Eva crossly Scene 1 reproaches Sachs, who is left to think how he may help @ Verachtet mir die Meister nicht 4:35 her. Magdalena tells Eva that Beckmesser intends to (Sachs) 3 The scene is a street, with Pogner’s grander house serenade her with his song. Eva asks Magdalena to take on the right, and Sachs’ simpler house on the left. The her place at the window. They make to go into the # Ehrt eure deutschen Meister 2:16 apprentices are closing the window shutters as evening house. (All) 8.110872-75 4 9 8.110872-75 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 8

Synopsis chalking up every mistake, more than seven of which RIchard WAGNER (1813-1883) will disqualify the contestant. With a hint of irony Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg CD 1 David wishes Walther good luck. The apprentices, who have started to dance, echoing David’s sentiments, The only comedy among Richard Wagner’s mature proud of their competence in their part-time craft, 1 In the Prelude leitmotifs are heard, including those scatter as Pogner and Beckmesser, the Town Clerk, works, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg dwarfed all music. Wagner had some fun with the marker, Sixtus associated with the Mastersingers, Walther’s love, the enter. previous comedic operas when it was given its first Beckmesser, the only overtly comic character in the Mastersinger Guild, conventional art, youthful fervour, complete performance in Munich in 1868; and only piece. He even toyed with the idea of calling him Hans and love and passion, some finally combining. Scene 3 Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier has since come Lick, or Veit Hanslich, as a way of getting back at the near it in length, scope and richness of detail. Wagner great Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick, a constant thorn Act I 5 The scene is now set for the contest. Pogner conceived the scheme in 1845 and at that stage clearly in his side. Whether Hanslick knew anything of this or promises to support Beckmesser. Walther rises from his saw it as a counterpart to Tannhäuser, the theme of a not, he was the sole dissenting voice when the first Scene 1 seat and approaches Pogner, whom he already knows. singing context being common to both. As so often performance took place in 1868 at the Court Theatre, He tells him that love of the art has brought him to happened with Wagner, however, he was deflected by Munich, on 21st June - Midsummer Day, as in the 2 The first act opens in the church of St Katharine. Nuremberg and that he wants to become a Mastersinger. other projects; and by the time he got round to working opera - under the baton of Hans von Bülow. This During the service Eva, daughter of the goldsmith Veit Pogner welcomes the gesture, while Beckmesser seriously on Die Meistersinger, he was a different première was the greatest success Wagner had in his Pogner, and the young knight Walther von Stolzing regards the proceedings with some suspicion, resolving composer with Tristan und Isolde and much of The entire career. catch each other’s eye, both of them equally captivated, to serenade Eva himself and win her favour. The Ring already behind him. He was fascinated by the Even in Wagner’s day, doubts were raised about while the congregation sings the final chorale. Masters gather. idea that sixteenth-century Nuremberg had boasted, the rampant chauvinism of Sachs’s final panegyric to among its many guilds, a Guild of Mastersingers. He German art, although it struck a chord with German 3 The service ends and the people start to leave. 6 Fritz Kothner, the baker, calls the names of those took the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs, a historical figure audiences in the run-up to the Franco-German War of Walther breaks through to meet Eva, who manages to summoned to the trial. who lived from 1494 to 1576 and whose music has 1870 and its aftermath. Unfortunately Die send her nurse Magdalena back to look for Eva’s survived, as his central character, and researched every Meistersinger was the saddest victim of Adolf Hitler’s kerchief. Walther asks Eva if she is already betrothed. 7 Pogner addresses them, reminding them how they available source in his mission to bring old Nuremberg Wagnerian obsession. During the 1930s Nuremberg Magdalena explains that Eva is pledged to the winner of celebrate the Feast of St John, at midsummer, with an to life. Curiously he had an autobiographical was the scene of the Nazi rallies and the opera was a the coming song contest of the Mastersingers. outdoor singing contest, to show the importance the occurrence to draw on: the finale of Act 2, with its rallying cry for the unhealthiest kind of nationalism. Magdalena’s sweetheart David, Hans Sachs’ citizens attach to art, not merely seekers after money; fugal brawl, is based on an evening Wagner and some Bayreuth itself, where Hitler was an honoured guest, apprentice, who has started to mark out the place for the for the competition the next day he offers the hand of friends spent in Nuremberg in 1835 when they became besmirched by association. When the coming preliminary test of the singers, is persuaded to his daughter Eva in marriage, together with all his witnessed just such a fight. Bayreuth Festival reopened in 1951, the new regime of teach Walther the rules of the contest. Walther promises goods. Wagner wrote two treatments, one in Marienbad in Wagner’s grandsons set out to confront this unpleasant to do his utmost to win the contest and Eva’s hand and 1845 and one in Vienna in 1861, before producing his legacy head-on and the brave decision was taken to tells her that he will come to see her in the evening. 8 Pogner adds that the winner must have Eva’s libretto around the turn of the year in 1861-2. In the programme Die Meistersinger. Even though some consent to marriage; if she refuse, then she must remain interim his concept altered and became much more former Nazis were involved in the production, the goal Scene 2 for ever unwed, since she is pledged to marry only a complex. In particular the central rôle of Sachs, which of rebirth was largely achieved. We owe it to Walter Mastersinger. Hans Sachs suggests that the contest ended up as the longest singing part in all opera, Legge and his team from Columbia that the production 4 Apprentices bring benches for the Mastersingers should be decided by the people. The Masters have their developed from a rather sardonic character into the was recorded for posterity. It was a triumph for the and call on David to help, while he explains to Walther misgivings about this radical proposal and Pogner’s fully rounded portrait we now know. While retaining a usual Bayreuth teamwork and no individual how he has combined his study of shoe-making with original offer is accepted, while Sachs and Beckmesser wit with a certain edge, Sachs became much more performance stood out, except perhaps for the cohesive that of the rules of singing. He demonstrates the dispute, Sachs declaring that Eva deserves a younger genial and philosophical; the idea of bringing him into effect achieved by the still young conductor, Herbert different tunes and tones of the art and how to sing husband than Beckmesser. Pogner presents Walther as a an ‘eternal triangle’ with the young hero and heroine von Karajan, who at this stage of his career had not yet them. He has been taught by his master, Hans Sachs, but new candidate for the contest, arousing Beckmesser’s was a late addition. We should not complain if the developed the emphasis on legato which was to sap the explains the procedure by which one must become a suspicions. The question is raised of Walther’s other characters tend to be ‘types’ rather than inner life of so many of his later performances. singer and a poet before one can become a Master, able background, answered by Pogner. Kothner then asks believable people like Sachs – after all, most other Edelmann’s Sachs is genial rather than profound, a to invent new melodies and words. He tells him of the Walther to name his teacher in the art of song. operatic comedies are very stylized. The Mastersingers portrayal in the line of Frantz, Schöffler or Stewart function of the marker, who is to sit hidden by a curtain, emerge as distinct personalities, craftsmen who are rather than Radford, Schorr or Hotter, to name three 8.110872-75 8 5 8.110872-75 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 6

outstanding recorded exponents. Kunz, Malaniuk and Opera from 1944, first coming to Britain in 1947 with the 1960s was active in both Stuttgart and Hamburg, but taking character rôles in his seventies. He made many Unger live up to their reputations as being among the that company. Thereafter she was one of the best- made many guest appearances elsewhere. He was recordings and several of his characterisations were finest post-war singers. The young lovers are more known singers in the world, and marriage to Walter perhaps the leading German character tenor of his day filmed. problematical: Hopf is a sturdy craftsman rather than a Legge led to his using her in myriad recording projects, and fortunately many of his rôles were captured on poet, and Schwarzkopf, of whom it could never be said both suitable (Mozart, Strauss) and unsuitable (two record. His bright, incisive David on this set is typical of Frederick Dalberg was born in Newcastle, South that her art is the kind that disguises art, is hardly an versions of the Verdi Requiem). She also recorded many his work in being both beautifully sung and brilliantly Africa, on 7th January 1908 (some sources say he began ingenue; at times one longs for a less tremulous tone Lieder. Few singers have so violently polarised opinion projected. life as Frederick Dalrymple in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the straightforward radiance of a Grümmer. All in but, love her or hate her, she has always been a class act. England, but the present writer remembers him as an all, however, this historic set is a fair monument to a The bass-baritone Otto Edelmann was born at Brunn Afrikaner). After early vocal studies in South Africa he momentous occasion. Ira Malaniuk was born on 29th January 1923 at am Gebirge near Vienna on 5th February 1917. His went to Dresden and then Leipzig, where he made his Stanislav, Ukraine. At L’viv her teacher was the bass teachers at the Vienna Academy included Theodor début in 1931 as Monterone in Rigoletto. In Germany Herbert von Karajan was born in Salzburg on 5th Adam Didur and in Vienna she worked with Anna Lierhammer. He made his début in Gera in 1937 as he used the first name Friedrich and he remained in April 1908 and studied at the Mozarteum in his native Bahr-Mildenburg. She made her début in 1945 at Graz Mozart’s Figaro and from 1940 was in Nuremberg Leipzig through the war, also singing at the 1942-4 city and the Vienna Academy. His first conducting and progressed through the companies at Zurich and before joining the army. Two years as a Russian Bayreuth Festivals and making guest appearances in posts were at Ulm, 1929-34, and Aachen, 1934-41. Munich before joining the Vienna State Opera in 1956. prisoner of war held back his career but in 1947 he Berlin, Vienna, Munich and Dresden. From 1947 he After conducting Tristan und Isolde at the Berlin State Guest appearances took her all over Europe and she joined the Vienna State Opera, where he stayed until sang at the Bavarian State Opera and from 1951 at Opera in 1937 he was much in demand and he headed sang all the major mezzo-soprano and contralto rôles. 1976, although his career took him all over the world, Covent Garden, making occasional forays to South that house from 1941 to 1945, when he was forbidden After retiring from the stage she turned to teaching and including fifteen seasons at the Met in New York, Africa. From 1958 until his retirement in 1970 he was by the Allies to conduct because of his Nazi past. In from 1971 was based in Graz. She made many where he made his bow as Sachs in 1954. Another based in Mannheim. He died in Cape Town in March 1947 he began to pick up his international career and in recordings, mostly of opera, and wrote an famous rôle was that of Baron Ochs in Der 1988. Although he was a leading bass and sang in a 1955 he succeeded Furtwängler at the head of the Berlin autobiography, ‘Stimme des Herzens’. Rosenkavalier, which was filmed with Karajan number of local or world premières, he made relatively Philharmonic. He remained in charge of this orchestra conducting. His Leporello under Furtwängler was also few records. until his death at Anif, near his birthplace, on 16th July The Heldentenor Hans Hopf was born in Nuremberg filmed and he made a number of recordings. 1989. He also had a close association with the Vienna on 2nd August 1916 and studied with the bass Paul Arnold van Mill was born in Schiedam, the Philharmonic and from 1957 to 1964 directed the Bender in Munich, where he made his début at the Erich Kunz, who was born on 20th May 1909 in Netherlands, on 26th March 1921 and trained at the Vienna State Opera. He made more recordings than any Landestheater in 1936 as Pinkerton in Madama Vienna, where he died on 8th September 1995, was one Rotterdam and Hague Conservatories. In 1946 he made other conductor and many of his interpretations were Butterfly. In those days he had quite a lyric voice. From of the most beloved singers produced by that city, his his début at the Monnaie in Brussels and after much also filmed. In opera he sought to create a unified 1939 he was in Augsburg and from 1942 at the German warm bass-baritone evoking the very essence of early success he settled in 1953 at the Hamburg State concept, often acting as his own producer and working Theatre in Oslo, where he restudied to take on more Viennese gemütlichkeit. His teachers were Theodor Opera, where he was a pillar of the company until 1971, with colleagues he knew and trusted. This unity is heroic rôles. In the late 1940s he alternated between Lierhammer and another much-loved Viennese and a favoured guest artist thereafter. He frequently apparent even in comparatively early studio recordings, Berlin and Dresden and from 1949 he was a member of baritone, Hans Duhan. He made his début as Osmin in performed at Bayreuth, where, in 1951, he also took such as his still unsurpassed versions of Die Zauberflöte the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. He appeared fairly Die Entführung at Opava in 1933 and had stints in part in Parsifal under Knappertsbusch, and made guest and Così fan tutte. frequently at Bayreuth – like Schwarzkopf and Plauen and Breslau, even spending a summer in the appearances all over the world. He can be heard on a Edelmann, he sang in the performance of Beethoven’s chorus at Glyndebourne, before joining the Vienna number of complete opera sets and also recorded a Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was born at Jarotschin, near Ninth that opened the 1951 festival – and made guest State Opera in 1941. After the war he became known as recital LP of arias. Poznan, on 9th December 1915. Her teachers in Berlin appearances at all the major European houses, as well as one of the leading Mozart singers of his generation. included the Lieder singer Lula Mysz-Gmeiner, the the Met in New York and the Colón, Buenos Aires. He Especially effective in comic rôles, he was a wonderful coloratura soprano Maria Ivogun and the latter’s also made many records. He died in Munich on 25th exponent of operetta and Viennese songs and was still Tully Potter husband, the pianist Michael Raucheisen. This training June 1993. predisposed Schwarzkopf towards the kind of career she later followed, alternating opera with concert and Gerhard Unger, born on 26th November 1916 in Bad recital work. Having made her début in 1938 as a flower Salzungen, studied in Berlin and began his career as a maiden in Parsifal at the Berlin Municipal Opera, she concert singer. He made his opera début in 1947 in progressed to being a member of the Vienna State Weimar, moved in 1952 to the Berlin State Opera and in 8.110872-75 6 7 8.110872-75 110872-75 bk Wagner US 05|02|2003 10:06 AM Page 6

Producer’s Note

Mark Obert-Thorn 8.110872-75 12 CMYK N 8.110872-75 Richard ADD AXOS Historical 4 CDs WAGNER Playing h broadcasting and copying of this compact disc prohibited. translations reserved. Unauthorised public performance, All rights in this sound recording, artwork, texts and (Suite 509) Franklin, Tennessee, 37067, USA. Distributed by: Naxos of America Inc., 416 Mary Lindsay Polk Drive, (1813-1883) Time 2003 HNH International Ltd. 4:27:37

8.110872-75 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Hans Sachs, cobbler ...... Otto Edelmann The Mastersingers of Nuremberg was Veit Pogner, goldsmith ...... Frederick Dalberg Wagner’s only mature comedy, and Kunz Vogelgesang, furrier ...... Erich Majkut his only work dealing with ordinary Konrad Nachtigall, tinsmith ...... Hans Berg historical figures. In this classic Sixtus Beckmesser, town clerk ...... Erich Kunz recording, made during a rehearsal Fritz Kothner, baker ...... Heinrich Pflanzl and five performances given at the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra • Herbert von Karajan Balthasar Zorn, pewterer ...... Josef Janko Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1951, the Otto Edelmann • Elisabeth Schwartzkopf g Ulrich Eisslinger, grocer ...... Karl Mikorey leading rôles are taken by the 2003 HNH International Ltd. Augustin Moser, tailor ...... Gerhard Stolze foremost Wagnerian singers of the Hermann Ortel, soapmaker ...... Heinz Tandler day including Elizabeth Hans Schwarz, stocking-weaver ...... Heinz Borst Schwarzkopf as Eva and the Hans Foltz, coppersmith ...... Arnold van Mill distinguished bass-baritone Otto Walther von Stolzing, a Franconian knight ...... Hans Hopf David, Sachs’ apprentice ...... Gerhard Unger Edelmann as Sachs. This recording, Eva, Pogner’s daughter ...... Elisabeth Schwarzkopf produced by the legendary Walter Magdalena, her nurse ...... Ira Malaniuk Legge and conducted by Herbert von A Night Watchman ...... Werner Faulhaber Karajan, whom Legge had signed up Bayreuth Festival Chorus (Chorus Master: Wilhelm Pitz) to record for Columbia after WWII, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra • Herbert von Karajan enjoyed some distinction when originally released on 68 sides, as the Otto Edelmann • Elisabeth Schwartzkopf Recorded in July and August 1951 in the Festspielhaus, Bayreuth First issued on Columbia LX 1465 through 1498 (78 rpm) largest work ever issued complete on

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra • Herbert von Karajan Festival Orchestra Bayreuth and 33CX 1021 through 1025 (LP) 78 rpm records. CD 1 70:09 CD 2 73:19 CD 3 68:56 CD 4 55:13 1-0 Act I 70:09 1-2 Act I 13:28 1-9 Act III 68:56 1-# Act III 55:13 (concluded) (concluded) MADE IN 3-! Act II 59:52 CANADA

Producer & Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn 8.110872-75

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A detailed track list can be found in the booklet AXOS Historical Cover Image: Set design for Die Meistersinger, Act II, by Max Bruckner N The Art Archive / Richard Wagner Museum Bayreuth / Dagli Orti (A)