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Home , Anton Dermota, Dantons Tod (opera), Hans Knappertsbusch, Hermann Gallos, Meistersinger, Otto Edelmann

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WAGNER Also available: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

PE NAP RTS K BU S S N C A H H

19 ng 50-51 Recordi

Paul Schoeffler • Hilde Gueden Gunther Treptow • Karl Dönch

8.110308-10 Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Hans Knappertsbusch 8.111128-31 16 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 2

Great Opera Recordings Mark Obert-Thorn Mark Obert-Thorn is one of the world’s most respected transfer artist/engineers. He has worked for a number of Richard specialist labels, including Pearl, Biddulph, Romophone and Music & Arts. Three of his transfers have been nominated for Gramophone Awards. A pianist by training, his passions are music, history and working on projects. WAGNER He has found a way to combine all three in the transfer of historical recordings. (1813-1883) Obert-Thorn describes himself as a ‘moderate interventionist’ rather than a ‘purist’ or ‘re-processor,’ unlike those who apply significant additions and make major changes to the acoustical qualities of old recordings. His philosophy is that a good transfer should not call attention to itself, but rather allow the performances to be heard Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the greatest clarity. There is no over-reverberant ‘cathedral sound’ in an Obert-Thorn restoration, nor is there the tinny bass and Comic Opera in Three Acts piercing mid-range of many ‘authorised’ commercial issues. He works with the cleanest available 78s, and consistently achieves better results than restoration engineers working with the metal parts from the archives of the Hans Sachs, cobbler ...... Paul Schoeffler (bass-baritone) modern corporate owners of the original recordings. His transfers preserve the original tone of the old recordings, Veit Pogner, goldsmith ...... Otto Edelmann (bass) maximising the details in critical upper mid-range and lower frequencies to achieve a musical integrity that is Kunz Vogelgesang, furrier ...... Hugo Meyer-Welfing (tenor) absent from many other commercially released restorations. Konrad Nachtigall, tinsmith ...... Wilhelm Felden (bass) Sixtus Beckmesser, town clerk ...... Karl Dönch (baritone) Fritz Kothner, baker ...... Alfred Poell (baritone) Balthasar Zorn, pewterer ...... Erich Majkut (tenor) Ulrich Eisslinger, grocer ...... William Wergnick (tenor) Augustin Moser, tailor ...... Hermann Gallos (tenor) Hermann Ortel, soapmaker ...... Harald Pröglhöf (bass) Hans Schwarz, stocking-weaver ...... Franz Bierbach (bass) Hans Foltz, coppersmith ...... Ljubomir Pantscheff (bass) Walther von Stolzing, a young Franconian knight ...... Gunther Treptow (tenor) David, Sachs’ apprentice ...... Anton Dermota (tenor) Eva, Pogner’s daughter ...... Hilde Gueden (soprano) Magdalena, her nurse ...... Else Schürhoff (soprano) A Night Watchman ...... Harald Pröglhöf (bass)

Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Hans Knappertsbusch

Recorded 2nd-9th September, 1950 (Act 2) and 11th-22nd September, 1951 (Acts 1 and 3) in the Musikvereinsaal, Vienna The Naxos historical label aims to make available the greatest recordings in the history of recorded music, in the best First issued on Decca LXT 2646/7 (Act 1), 2560/1 (Act 2) and 2648/9 (Act 3) and truest sound that contemporary technology can provide. To achieve this aim, Naxos has engaged a number of respected restorers who have the dedication, skill and experience to produce restorations that have set new standards Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn in the field of historical recordings.

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CD 4 Pogner thanks him, while Beckmesser is agitated at the CD 1 71:34 CD 2 73:28 difficulties of the new poem and seeks Sachs’ support. Act III (continued) The oldest is to begin, and the apprentices lead Act I 71:34 Act I (concluded) 13:14 Beckmesser to the mound from which he is to perform. 1 Sachs calls for the baptism of the new song, He stumbles at first, and there are unflattering 1 Prelude 8:51 1 Fanget an! 5:37 promoting David from apprentice to journeyman. comments from the bystanders as to his eligibility as a (Orchestra) (Walther, the Masters, Beckmesser, Sachs) bridegroom. 2 Eva prays for the song’s success, joined by Scene 1 2 Halt! Meister! Nicht so geeilt! 7:37 Walther, while Sachs muses on his own renunciation of 9 Beckmesser embarks on his contest song, which is 2 Da zu dir der Heiland kam 3:45 (Sachs, Beckmesser, Nachtigall, Kothner, Pogner, Eva, in favour of the young lovers. so clumsy as to bring only laughter from the assembly. (Congregation) the other Masters) He angrily blames Sachs, before rushing away. 3 They leave all together for the celebration. 3 Verweilt! – Ein Wort! 8:42 Act II 60:14 0 Sachs disclaims the poem and asks if anyone (Walther, Eva, Magdalene, David) Scene 5 present can sing the song as it should be sung and win Scene 1 the title of Mastersinger. Scene 2 3 Johannistag! Johannistag! 3:52 4 The scene is now an open meadow by a stream, 4 David, was stehst? 16:12 (Apprentices, David, Magdalene, Sachs) with a raised platform for the Mastersingers and guests. ! Walther steps forward and sings the prize song and (Apprentices, David, Walther) The guildsmen enter, first the shoemakers, then the is crowned with the garland by Eva, while Pogner offers Scene 2 town musicians, the journeymen, tailors and bakers. him the golden chain of a Mastersinger. Walther, Scene 3 4 Lass seh’n, ob Meister Sachs zu Haus? 6:27 however, disclaims this honour, desiring happiness 5 Seid meiner Treue wohl versehen 4:38 (Pogner, Eva, Magdalene, Sachs, David) 5 The apprentices, with David, dance around the alone. (Pogner, Beckmesser, Walther, Sachs, girls, to the sound of the town pipers. Finally the Vogelgesang, Nachtigall) Scene 3 Mastersingers march in, followed by Pogner and Eva. @ Sachs wisely advises him not to spurn the art of the 5 Was duftet doch der Flieder 5:49 Mastersingers, who have preserved true German art, 6 Zu einer Freiung und Zunftberatung 2:55 (Sachs) 6 The apprentices call for silence, now all have taken inherited from court traditions, and will protect it from (Kothner, Pogner, Vogelgesang, Ortel, Zorn, their places. danger. Nachtigall, Moser, an Apprentice, David, Sachs, Scene 4 Beckmesser, Eisslinger, Foltz, Schwartz) 6 Gut’n Abend, Meister! 11:09 7 Sachs steps forward and all join in singing the # All join in praise of German art. Eva takes the (Eva, Sachs, Magdalene) chorale Wach’auf! garland from Walther and bestows it on Sachs, who in 7 Das schöne Fest, Johannistag 5:24 turn bestows the golden chain on Walther. All pay (Pogner) Scene 5 8 Sachs addresses the company, thanking them and tribute to Hans Sachs. 7 Da ist er! 5:22 urging the Mastersingers to bear in mind the importance 8 Das heisst ein Wort! 10:34 (Eva, Magdalene, Walther) of the prize offered by Pogner, the hand of his daughter. Keith Anderson (The Masters, Apprentices, Sachs, Pogner, Beckmesser) 8 Hört, ihr Leut’ und lasst euch sagen 3:24 (Night-Watchman, Sachs, Walther, Eva) 9 Am stillen Herd in Winterszeit 7:31 (Walther, Sachs, Beckmesser, Kothner, 9 Jerum! Jerum! 12:59 Vogelgesang, Nachtigall) (Sachs, Beckmesser, Walther, Eva)

0 Was euch zum Liede Richt’ und Schnur 3:03 0 Den Tag seh’ ich erscheinen 5:32 (Kothner, Walther, Beckmesser) (Beckmesser, Sachs) 8.111128-31 14 3 8.111128-31 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 4

! Darf ich mich Meister nennen 5:41 CD 4 52:03 CD 3 Scene 3 (Beckmesser, Sachs, Neighbours, David, Magdalene, Apprentices, Journeymen, Masters, Act III (continued) 52:03 Act III 6 Beckmesser appears outside the shop, which he Women, Pogner, Walther) quickly enters, limping and suffering from the beating 1 Ein Kind ward hier geboren 3:56 1 The Prelude includes motifs from Sachs’ chorale David had given him the night before. Uneasily he (Sachs) ‘Wach’auf!’ and from the Cobbler’s Song. limps round the room, recalling the events of the night, CD 3 68:27 and eventually sees the paper on which Sachs has 2 Selig, wie die Sonne 3:57 Scene 1 written Walther’s words, apparently Sachs’ own contest Act III 68:27 (Eva, Sachs, Walther, David, Magdalene) song. Hearing Sachs approach, he puts the paper in his 2 The scene is in Sachs’ workshop. The cobbler sits pocket, but then produces it as evidence of Sachs’ 1 Prelude 6:39 3 Nun Junker! Kommt! 2:09 reading. David slips in with a basket of flowers, from treachery in intending to compete himself. Sachs denies (Orchestra) (Sachs) the bottom of which he takes a sausage and a cake. the charge and tells Beckmesser he may use the poem, if Sachs noisily turns a page of his book and David starts he wants, assuring him that he will not reveal the true Scene 1 Scene 5 up, assuring his master that he has delivered authorship. Beckmesser hurries away, prepared to learn 2 Gleich, Meister! Hier! 7:57 4 Sankt Crispin, lobet ihn! 3:09 Beckmesser’s shoes and begs forgiveness for his the puzzling words of the poem and, in gratitude, (David, Sachs) (The Shoemakers, the Tailors, the Bakers) behaviour of the night before, explaining the cause. promising to vote for Sachs as Marker. Sachs is quietly Sachs asks him to sing his St John’s Day chorale, which satisfied with the outcome, musing on the malice 3 Wahn! Wahn! 7:09 5 Herr Je! Herr Je! 3:27 he does well enough, adding his congratulations to Beckmesser has shown and his just reward. (Sachs) [Dance of the Apprentices] Sachs on the latter’s name-day and urging him to defeat (Apprentices, David) Beckmesser in the contest and win the hand of Eva. Scene 4 Scene 2 4 Grüss’ Gott, mein Junker! 9:03 6 Silentium! Silentium! 3:21 3 As David leaves, Sachs muses on the folly of 7 Eva, richly dressed, enters the shop, seeking to have (Sachs, Walther) [Entrance of the Mastersingers] human malice and the events of the night, and his her new shoes adjusted. She is overwhelmed when (Apprentices, All the People) intention to steer folly to a good end. Walther enters in his knightly costume. 5 Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein 10:06 (Walther, Sachs) 7 Wach’ auf 2:37 Scene 2 8 Sachs suggest that Walther sing the third verse of (All the People) his trial song, while he himself works on the shoes. Eva Scene 3 4 Walther enters from the next room and tells Sachs is strongly moved, bursts into tears and sinks on Sachs’ 6 Ein Werbelied! 15:27 8 Euch macht ihr’s leicht 7:19 of a dream he has had, which Sachs tells him should breast, while Walther seizes his hand in gratitude. (Beckmesser, Sachs) (Sachs, Pogner, Beckmesser, Kothner, the People, form the substance of his song. Songs should temper the Apprentices) youth, spring and ardour with experience. 9 Eva thanks Sachs for all he has done for her and Scene 4 Walther, and Sachs assures her he would never have 7 Sieh’ Ev’chen! Dacht’ ich doch, wo sie blieb’! 9 Morgen ich leuchte in rosigem Schein 4:10 5 As Walther sings, Sachs writes down the words of wished to echo the fate of King Marke, when Tristan (Sachs, Eva) 4:22 (Beckmesser, the Masters, the People) his song, which moves him greatly, while advising him fell in love with Isolde, the King’s betrothed. of the necessary techniques. They leave to prepare for Magdalena and David enter the shop, both dressed for 8 Weilten die Sterne im lieblichen Tanz? 3:58 0 Das Lied, fürwahr, ist nicht von mir 4:13 the coming contest. the festival. (Walther, Sachs) (Sachs, the Masters, the People, the Apprentices)

9 O Sachs! Mein Freund! 3:45 ! Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigem Schein 7:26 (Eva, Sachs) (Walther, the People, Sachs, the Masters, Pogner, Eva) 8.111128-31 4 13 8.111128-31 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 12

Scene 4 9 Beckmesser is about to start his song, when Sachs @ Verachtet mir die Meister nicht 4:17 # Ehrt eure deutschen Meister 2:00 allows his light to shine on the street again and starts (Sachs) (All) 6 Hans Sachs goes on with his work, interrupted by hammering, at his work, singing his Cobbler’s Song of Eva’s greeting. He tells her that she must wear her new the expulsion of Eve from Paradise. Beckmesser is shoes the next day as a bride, and the shoes on which he angry at the interruption, while Eva and Walther is now working are for the man who may marry her, wonder at the meaning and purpose of the song. Beckmesser. Eva suggests that Sachs, a widower, would Magdalena appears at the window, dressed as Eva, and be more acceptable to her, as he has known her since Beckmesser tells Sachs not to bother any more about the she was a child. Magdalena calls to Eva, while Sachs shoes he is making for him, but would like advice from tells her that Walther has no hope, as one born a Master him on his song. Sachs reminds him of his taunts earlier and therefore unrecognised by those who have worked in the day, and Beckmesser angrily tells him that he will hard to master the rules of their art. Magdalena urges never be Marker for the Mastersingers. Sachs, however, Eva to go in, as her father is calling for her. Eva crossly will listen, and mark any faults with the blows of his reproaches Sachs, who is left to think how he may help hammer. her. Magdalena tells Eva that Beckmesser intends to serenade her with his song. Eva asks Magdalena to take 0 Beckmesser starts his inept serenade, interrupted all her place at the window. They make to go into the the time by Sachs’ hammering and suggested house. corrections. Beckmesser angrily continues his song, and Sachs his hammering, until song and shoes are finished. Scene 5 ! Windows open along the street, as Beckmesser 7 As they leave, Walther appears in the street, seen by boasts of his knowledge of the rules and intention to win Eva, to her delight. He tells her of his failure and her the contest. David sees someone serenading his beloved father’s pledge that she may only marry a Mastersinger. Magdalena and emerges with a cudgel, to deal with the He recalls his ordeal, as he sang of love, while the offender. There is general commotion, observed Mastersingers clung to their traditional rules. He urges secretly by Eva and Walther, as David attacks her to run away with him. The horn of the night- Beckmesser. The horn of the approaching night- watchman is heard, and Walther lays his hand on his watchman is heard, and Sachs comes out of his shop, sword, but is calmed by Eva, who tells him to hide for seizing the arm of Walther, who has drawn his sword, the moment. Magdalena calls her into the house. and pushing Eva towards her father, who has come out to see what is happening. He pushes David before him 8 The night-watchman passes, calling ten o’clock. and draws Walther into his house, while women pour Producer’s Note Hans Sachs, meanwhile, has overheard the lovers and water on the commotion below, in which others have must prevent any elopement. Eva comes out again, now joined, so that all is silent again when the night- The present transfer was made from the best portions of three British LP pressings. The original master tape has dressed in Magdalena’s clothes, ready to make her watchman appears. numerous problems. The beginnings of some notes were clipped, while at other times some bars of music were escape with Walther. Sachs allows a light to shine from incorrectly repeated. Occasionally, a splice joined two sections recorded at slightly different pitches and volume his house onto the couple, who withdraw, but as they levels. I have attempted to fix as much as I could, but the attacks of some notes remain missing. I was able to plan to leave, they are interrupted by the arrival of reinstate a pizzicato (CD 1, Track 9, 4:56) which was apparently cut from all editions subsequent to the earliest Beckmesser. two-LP set of Act 1. Mark Obert-Thorn

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Richard Wagner (1813-1883) husband than Beckmesser. Pogner presents Walther as a to continue, to general objections, and when his song Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg new candidate for the contest, arousing Beckmesser’s comes to an end, he is supported by the apprentices. He suspicions. The question is raised of Walther’s leaves, and the rest follow, leaving Sachs alone in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg embraces the daily create a language that fitted in with sixteenth-century background, answered by Pogner. Kothner then asks thought, as the boys remove the benches and singer’s life, the bustle, the humanity and diverse characters of Nuremberg, but brought it forward two centuries: the Walther to name his teacher in the art of song. chair. the medieval city of Nuremberg in the sixteenth composer described his style as ‘applied Bach’. For century. Some of the characters Wagner chose were in example: the procession across the meadow is replete 9 Walther claims the great medieval poet-singer Act II fact based on real people: Hans Sachs (1494-1576) and with dotted rhythms recalling the style of a French Walther von der Vogelweide as his teacher, while in Konrad Nachtigall. The Guild movement had developed overture. Then if there is the feel of the old in the spring he listened to the birds, claims that are greeted Scene 1 during earlier centuries through various craftsmen’s chorale in Act 1 Scene 1 ‘Das zu dir der Heiland kam’, contemptuously by Beckmesser. Walther is asked to organizations. They would continue until the late it is Wagner looking back but using his own musical sing, and proposes a song of love, which Beckmesser, 3 The scene is a street, with Pogner’s grander house nineteenth century, by which time they had virtually language. The inclusion of a passacaglia in the the Marker, prepares to fault at every turn, reminding on the right, and Sachs’ simpler house on the left. The disappeared and new labour organizations in the form of concluding pages of the opening Prelude can be him that after seven faults any further mistake will lead apprentices are closing the window shutters as evening trades unions would supplant the original Guilds. observed, as the formal nature of the opening of the to failure. draws on. David recalls the apprentices’ song and is Although Gyrowetz and Lortzing had both composed Quintet in Act 3 Scene 4. greeted by Magdalena, who brings him a basket of food, earlier versions of a similar story that featured the hero The plot is inspired by the life of Hans Sachs, the 0 Kothner reads out the rules of composition of a which she takes back when she hears of Walther’s Hans Sachs in 1834 and 1840, Wagner was undaunted cobbler-poet, who is also a significant member of the master-song, its sections, verses, rhymes and melodic apparent failure. The apprentices have overheard their by this fact. He depicts accurately the rigidity and Mastersingers’ Guild. Then there is the knight Walther form. Walther sits in the singer’s chair, and Beckmesser exchange and tease David. His retaliation is prevented pedantic rules that governed the weekly Sunday von Stolzing who desires to marry Eva, and her calls for him to begin. by the appearance of Sachs, and they go together into meetings of the Guilds, held after morning church goldsmith father Veit Pogner. The latter has decided to the house. services. Competitions took place and prizes were give her hand to the winner of a song competition who awarded with members promoted into various classes. must also learn the complex rules of the craft guild. Scene 2 In a letter to Mathilde Wesendonk dated 3rd February Walther is helped by Sachs, and is declared the eventual CD 2 1862, Wagner remarked: “even the titles of the winner, despite the absurd antics of the Town Clerk, 4 Pogner and Eva, returning from a walk, stop before mastersongs and their melodies are, with the exception Beckmesser. Act I (continued) Sachs’ house, as Pogner would speak with him. They of a few invented by me, genuine: on the whole I am The score remains one of the greatest achievements sit, as Pogner thinks better of interrupting Sachs. Eva amazed by what I am able to make from just a few in Wagner’s composing career, incorporating an 1 Walther begins, singing of the start of spring persuades him to go into his house, while Magdalena notes”. This was to be the only occasion on which the allegory of his own struggle for his individuality and through the countryside. He contrasts this with winter, emerges, telling Eva of Walther’s failure. She decides to composer used so directly an historical source, in this ongoing radical ideas within a very human comedy: it while Beckmesser’s chalk continues to be heard, as the speak to Sachs later. case, Johann Christoph Wagenseil’s Buch von der could be said to reconcile tradition with innovation. Marker records the mistakes. Walther continues his Meistersinger holdseligen Kunst. Wagner used the That opening ‘great’ C major chord of the opening song, now a celebration of love. Eventually Beckmesser Scene 3 names of the twelve old Nuremberg Masters, the titles Prelude and development of the principal themes are interrupts, showing his slate, covered with chalk marks. of the songs, the strict rules for song composition, the handled with remarkable skill and show that Pogner would hear Walther, but the other Mastersingers 5 As Magdalena and Eva withdraw into their house, exhaustive list of mistakes, penalties and the technical reconciliation is the true overriding theme of the whole agree with Beckmesser, finding no sense in Walther’s Sachs is seen in his shop, musing on the distracting expressions. The libretto, by the composer himself, opera. It is a composition that displays Wagner’s beauty song. scent of lilac blossom, before returning to his work. He even makes use of historical texts. It is some aspects of of workmanship and texture together with an almost continues to think of Walther’s song, so innovative and the final text that would come to taint Wagner and his inexhaustible variety of symphonic invention. Little 2 They are interrupted by Hans Sachs, who finds yet familiar, like the song of birds in May, inspired by posthumous reputation by the highjacking via the wonder therefore the opera continues to remain in the interest in Walther’s song, to Beckmesser’s distaste and nature. National Socialist party for their ideals of a greater freer standard repertory. insults. Sachs accuses Beckmesser of personal jealousy, Germany. It was in 1845 that Wagner first sketched a while the latter tells the cobbler to stick to his list and In the case of the music, Wagner also attempted to scenario, ten years after he had visited Nuremberg with finish the shoes he expects for the festival. Walther tries 8.111128-31 6 11 8.111128-31 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 10

Synopsis singer and a poet before one can become a Master, able his brother-in-law at the age of 22. The work occupied such an undertaking was no mean feat. to invent new melodies and words. He tells him of the Wagner with many interruptions until 1867. The The conductor chosen for this enterprise was Hans CD 1 function of the marker, who is to sit hidden by a curtain, première of the complete opera eventually took place at Knappertsbusch, who started recording for Decca in chalking up every mistake, more than seven of which the Munich Court Opera on 21st June 1868. 1947, having earlier built up an enviable reputation as a Act I will disqualify the contestant. With a hint of irony With the introduction of tape-recording in early Wagnerian conductor. He was also somewhat bohemian David wishes Walther good luck. The apprentices, who 1950, the Decca Record Company had begun recording in manner with a very ready wit, at times a trifle risqué. 1 In the Prelude leitmotifs are heard, including those have started to dance, echoing David’s sentiments, complete operas in Vienna in June that year, beginning Olof recalled that on one occasion during the sessions associated with the Mastersingers, Walther’s love, the scatter as Pogner and Beckmesser, the Town Clerk, with Die Entführung aus dem Serail under Josef Krips. that he felt the double basses were rather too loud, to Mastersinger Guild, conventional art, youthful fervour, enter. The next opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, was which the conductor wickedly replied: “Good, I’ll go and love and passion, some finally combining. planned for September that same year. In fact only Act and kill off a couple!” Scene 3 2 was initially planned, and, if successful, Acts 1 and 3 Decca chose Paul Schoeffler (1897-1977) as the Scene 1 would be made the following year. It was to be the first cobbler Hans Sachs, by general consent the finest 5 The scene is now set for the contest. Pogner complete studio recording of the opera. (Back in 1938, exponent of the rôle at that time of the recording, born 2 The first act opens in the church of St Katharine. promises to support Beckmesser. Walther rises from his EMI’s German affiliate Electrola had recorded Act 3 in in Dresden, where he first studied before moving to During the service Eva, daughter of the goldsmith Veit seat and approaches Pogner, whom he already knows. Dresden, and, but for the outbreak of World War 2, had Milan to work with Marco Sammarco. His début was as Pogner, and the young knight Walther von Stolzing He tells him that love of the art has brought him to planned to record the other two acts the following year the Herald in Lohengrin in Dresden in 1925, the catch each other’s eye, both of them equally captivated, Nuremberg and that he wants to become a Mastersinger. but this never happened.). following year becoming a member of that company, while the congregation sings the final chorale. Pogner welcomes the gesture, while Beckmesser In the years following the return to peace in Europe, remaining until 1938. From there he moved to the regards the proceedings with some suspicion, resolving Decca’s classical recording director Maurice Vienna State Opera until he retired in 1970. His London 3 The service ends and the people start to leave. to serenade Eva himself and win her favour. The Rosengarten, who was based in Zürich, had slowly début was as Donner in 1934 at Covent Garden where Walther breaks through to meet Eva, who manages to Masters gather. signed up an impressive roster of artists. These included he would sing until 1953; he first appeared in 1938 at send her nurse Magdalena back to look for Eva’s Hans Knappertsbuch, Paul Schoeffler, Hilde Gueden, Salzburg, where he sang regularly until 1965. kerchief. Walther asks Eva if she is already betrothed. 6 Fritz Kothner, the baker, calls the names of those Gunther Treptow and, the prize of all, the Vienna Schoeffler made his first American appearance at the Magdalena explains that Eva is pledged to the winner of summoned to the trial. Philharmonic, which hitherto had been the exclusive Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1950 after which he the coming song contest of the Mastersingers. property of EMI. Thus plans were put in place to record continued for nine seasons until 1964. In addition to Magdalena’s sweetheart David, Hans Sachs’ 7 Pogner addresses them, reminding them how they the Wagner opera in Vienna with many of these creating the title-rôle in Gottfried von Einem’s Dantons apprentice, who has started to mark out the place for the celebrate the Feast of St John, at midsummer, with an contracted artists. As the producer of this recording, Tod in 1947 and Jupiter in Strauss’s Die Liebe der coming preliminary test of the singers, is persuaded to outdoor singing contest, to show the importance the Victor Olof, wrote some years later; “This was indeed a Danae in 1952, both at Salzburg, his repertoire also teach Walther the rules of the contest. Walther promises citizens attach to art, not merely seekers after money; massive undertaking involving an orchestra of 95 included Don Giovanni, Scarpia, Amfortas, Kurwenal, to do his utmost to win the contest and Eva’s hand and for the competition the next day he offers the hand of musicians, a stage band, a chorus of a hundred or more Pizarro, Iago, Orest, Wotan and the Grand Inquisitor. tells her that he will come to see her in the evening. his daughter Eva in marriage, together with all his voices and a cast of seventeen singers of the State He also sang in the 1950s in San Francisco. After goods. Opera. This was a veritable army for a producer to retiring he came to live in Britain, where his sister was Scene 2 control single-handedly, and our modest [recording] married to the English conductor Mark Lubbock. He 8 Pogner adds that the winner must have Eva’s equipment of four channels was put to the limit of its died in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. 4 Apprentices bring benches for the Mastersingers consent to marriage; if she refuse, then she must remain power”. For the rôle of the goldsmith Veit Pogner the and call on David to help, while he explains to Walther for ever unwed, since she is pledged to marry only a During the original sessions, which took place in Viennese bass-baritone Otto Edelmann (1917-2003) how he has combined his study of shoe-making with Mastersinger. Hans Sachs suggests that the contest the Grosser Saal of the Musikverein, Paul Schoeffler was selected. He had studied at the Vienna Akademie that of the rules of singing. He demonstrates the should be decided by the people. The Masters have their became ill. It was out of the question to cancel the and made his début in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in different tunes and tones of the art and how to sing misgivings about this radical proposal and Pogner’s recording, so Olof was obliged to carry on and edit in Gera in 1937. For the following three seasons he was a them. He has been taught by his master, Hans Sachs, but original offer is accepted, while Sachs and Beckmesser the soloist’s part when he had recovered and was free to member of Nuremberg Opera. Drafted into the German explains the procedure by which one must become a dispute, Sachs declaring that Eva deserves a younger sing. In those early years of fairly primitive tape editing army, Edelmann was later captured and imprisoned as a 8.111128-31 10 7 8.111128-31 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 8

prisoner of war by the Soviets. Eventually released, he The Yugoslav-born tenor Anton Dermota (1910- made her début in 1928. Joining the Hanover Opera in working in Vienna from 1936 until 1938 and joined the Vienna State Opera in 1947 and remained 1989) first studied piano and composition in Ljubljana 1929, she moved to Munich in 1937 before working at intermittently during the war years, 1946-1950. He then with the Company for 36 years. His career also took before starting vocal studies in Vienna. Making his the Staatsoper in Vienna from 1941 until 1953. She then based himself in Munich after 1954. His special affinity him to the stages of La Scala, Munich, Covent Garden, début in Cluj (formerly Klausenberg) in 1934 in Die became a member of the Hamburg Company until with Wagner came to a wider public with his regular the Metropolitan, as well as the festivals in Bayreuth, Zauberflöte, he was engaged by Bruno Walter for the retirement. Thus, her career was spent almost appearances at the Bayreuth Festival first with Parsifal Edinburgh and Salzburg. He sang Hans Sachs at Vienna State Opera during the 1936/7 season. He exclusively in German-speaking countries. In addition and the Ring (both of which exist in a number of live Bayreuth in 1951, an interpretation which can be found appeared in Paris under Walter in November 1937, to this Meistersinger with Knappertsbusch, she also recordings). He famously abhorred rehearsals and never on Naxos (8.110872-75). Another notable recording singing in Mozart’s Requiem and Bruckner’s Te Deum, appeared in complete recordings of Salome with really felt at ease in the recording studio. He was first included Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier under Karajan in followed by the Salzburg Festival the following year. A Clemens Krauss (Naxos 8.111014-15), Die Fledermaus and foremost a man of the theatre, working in the 1956. Later he turned more to teaching and in 1982 was decade later he appeared in London with the visiting (Naxos 8.111036-37) and Hänsel und Gretel (Naxos sunken pit at Bayreuth away from public gaze. At his appointed Professor of Singing at the Akademie in Vienna Company (with whom he sang for forty years). 8.110897-98), the latter two under Karajan. finest he was able to generate dramatic excitement over Vienna. His sons Paul Armin and Peter have both Dermota sang Florestan at the opening of the rebuilt The German conductor Hans Knappertsbusch long spans of musical form. enjoyed careers as baritone singers. Staatsoper in Vienna in the autumn of 1955. His career (1888-1965) was born in Eberfeld. He first studied When Act 2 was originally released in February Karl Dönch (1915-1994) was born in Gaen, also embraced engagements in Rome, Naples, philosophy before turning to music at the Cologne 1951, The Gramophone commented of the singers that Austria, and died in Vienna. He spent virtually all his Czechoslovakia and Hungary. From 1966 onwards he Conservatory under Fritz Steinbach and Otto Lohse “Paul Schoeffler is a fine and wise Sachs, Hilde Gueden career as a member of the Staatsoper in Vienna, taught singing and coached at the Vienna Akademie. In (1909-12). His career began at Mühlheim in 1911 in the is a charmingly naïve Eva, Otto Edelmann is one of the graduating from the chorus to smaller rôles, which 1980 he sang Tamino in Die Zauberflöte to mark his Ruhr, soon followed by a post in Bochum, and from best exponents of Pogner I have heard, Karl Dönch included Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Melitone in seventieth birthday. Dermota was a greatly admired 1913-18 he worked as conductor in his native Eberfeld. never clowns as Beckmesser, and Else Schürhoff makes La forza del destino, Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier and Mozartian, in the direct line of Patzak and Tauber. He He then moved to Leipzig and in 1922 became General a mature Magdalene”. Of the conductor it was Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger. He first sang at the also enjoyed a parallel career in the concert hall, often Music Director at the Bavarian State Opera, a position remarked: “Hans Knappertsbusch and the Vienna Salzburg Festival in 1951 and later appeared in Berlin appearing with his wife Hilde as his accompanist. he held until 1936 when he was dismissed by the Nazi Philharmonic Orchestra play the wonderful score with and Buenos Aires. Dönch created Leiokritris in Frank The Viennese-born soprano Hilde Gueden (1917- régime. He first appeared in London at the Royal Opera complete understanding and love”. Martin’s Penelope, St. Just in Dantons Tod (Gottfried 1988) studied at her native city’s Conservatory in House in 1937 conducting Salome. He also conducted at von Einem) and sang in premières of Die Zaubertrank addition to piano and dancing, first appearing in Robert the Salzburg and Zürich Festival at this time, before Malcolm Walker and Der Sturm, both by Frank Martin. His recordings Stolz’s operetta Servus, servus in 1934, before making include Die Fledermaus (Naxos 8.111036-7). her operatic début as Cherubino in Zürich in 1939. She The tenor Gunther Treptow (1907-1981) was then appeared in Munich (1941-42) as Sophie, Despina born and died in Berlin. Originally he studied as a and Zerlina, followed by Vienna (1946-1973) and the baritone but moved up to become a tenor, making his Salzburg Festival in 1946. She sang with the Viennese début as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier in company on their London visit in 1947. Gueden made Berlin in 1936. He was employed later by the her American début as Gilda in Rigoletto at the Volksoper in Vienna where he sang the rôles of Metropolitan in November 1951. She sang at this house Florestan, Max, von Stolzing and Pedro in D’Albert’s until 1960, her rôles there including Anne Truelove in Tiefland. His career was confined to Germany during Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Rosalinde in Die the war years but he returned to Vienna in 1947. This Fledermaus, Sophie, Mimì, Zdenka, Zerlina and was followed by appearances in Italy (Bologna and Susanna. Equally at home in opera and operetta, her Venice) and the Metropolitan in New York in 1951, the repertoire also embraced a number of contemporary same year in which he sang at the re-opened Bayreuth works. An extremely glamorous and intelligent person, Festival. His later career was one that took him to all she also displayed a fine stage presence. parts of the musical globe. He retired from the stage in The German contralto Else Schürhoff (1898-1961) 1971. was born in Wuppertal and studied in Berlin where she 8.111128-31 8 9 8.111128-31 111128-31 bk Meisters EU 4/3/06 10:49 AM Page 8

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Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Hans Knappertsbusch

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WAGNER Also available: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

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19 ng 50-51 Recordi

Paul Schoeffler • Hilde Gueden Gunther Treptow • Karl Dönch

8.110308-10 Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Hans Knappertsbusch 8.111128-31 16 NAXOS Historical Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 8.111128-31

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A H Hans Knappertsbusch WAGNER Paul Schoeffler • Hilde Gueden Gunther Treptow • Karl Dönch Treptow Gunther Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Die Meistersinger Vienna State Opera Chorus • Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus • I S E E E P R T R R R A A C G G D N O O 4 CDs

NAXOS Historical WAGNER: 8.111128-31 CMYK NAXOS Historical NAXOS Historical 8.111128-31 Richard Playing Time ADD WAGNER 4:25:32 (1813 – 1883) and copying of this compact disc prohibited. broadcasting Unauthorised public performance, texts and translations reserved. artwork, All rights in this sound recording, &

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 06NxsRgt nentoa t.Made in the EU 2006 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Hans Sachs ...... Paul Schoeffler This remastered and restored recording Eva ...... Hilde Gueden of one of Wagner’s greatest dramatic achievements brings together a dream- Walther von Stolzing ...... Gunther Treptow

cast of operatic legends. They include Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Sixtus Beckmesser ...... Karl Dönch Paul Schoeffler, by general consent the Veit Pogner ...... Otto Edelmann greatest Hans Sachs of the early 1950s, David ...... Anton Dermota as well as Hilde Gueden, Anton Dermota, and Otto Edelmann. A regular Magdalena ...... Else Schürhoff conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, Hans WAGNER: Vienna State Opera Chorus Knappertsbusch was able to generate dramatic excitement over long spans of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra musical form. When Act 2 of Die Hans Knappertsbusch Meistersinger was originally released in Recorded in Vienna in 1950-51 1951, The Gramophone remarked: “Hans Knappertsbusch and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra play the wonderful score with complete understanding and love”. CD 1 71:34 CD 2 73:28 CD 3 68:27 CD 4 52:03 1-0 Act 1 71:34 1-2 Act I concluded 13:14 1-9 Act III 68:27 1-# Act III concluded 3-! Act 1I 60:14 52:03 8.111128-31 8.111128-31 Reissue Producer and Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn Cover photo: Hans Knappertsbusch (The Tully Potter Collection)