Hans Sachs, the highly respected cobbler-poet and mastersinger in Wagner’s sweeping three-act music drama, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, tells us that, in order to achieve, it takes a little madness.
It possibly crossed the minds of those behind Melbourne Opera’s (MO) latest production when the idea of staging the work within the city’s massive and majestic UNESCO World Heritage Royal Exhibition Building was raised.
At Sunday’s history-making opening performance, in director Suzanne Chaundy’s soaring and sensitively crafted staging, the significance of art and culture – including the evolution and revolution that shapes it – reverberated throughout the vast space. And I kid you not in saying it counts as one of the greatest experiences of opera in my four decades of global adventures.
In what is Wagner’s only comedy among his mature operas, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg explores frictions between artistic tradition and innovation. The story is based around preparations for a rigorously regulated singing competition for which Eva, the daughter of the mastersinger Veit Pogner, is the trophy – certainly a denigrating concept in modern times.
Eva is, however, in love with the noble knight Walther, who needs to learn the rules fast but who Hans Sachs recognises as having a uniquely divine and passionate style.
It’s impossible not to think of Wagner himself in the young Walther – Wagner the great innovator, who changed the course of opera, composed to his own rules and manifesto but diverged from those as he saw necessary.
Likewise, we see Wagner in the older, intelligent and judicious Sachs. And, in Wagner’s complexity, there’s even a little of himself in the divisive, eccentric town clerk and mastersinger, Beckmesser, who critics have often seen as a derided Jew, reinforcing questions over the composer’s antisemitic nature.
Of course, when the final scene explodes with defiant nationalism in sublime choral bursts repeating Sachs’ Honour your German Masters, thoughts of Adolf Hitler’s love of and appropriation of Wagner’s work doesn’t help.
The fact that Wagner conceived it as a comedy, however, should make us all the more wary about how it is interpreted. Do we judge Wagner unfairly? Bayreuth Festival’s current production, directed by Australian Barrie Kosky, asks exactly that.
Praiseworthily, Chaundy’s proven knack for clear and uncluttered storytelling plays out effortlessly across the hours, bringing together the poetry, art and incisiveness of Wagner’s music drama in a phenomenal marriage with an architecture that oddly feels completed by the occasion.
Best of all, Chaundy refreshingly and evenly dapples comedic appeal that feels neatly grafted to the narrative without forcing speculation and controversy on her audience.
The action takes place in Renaissance Germany, appropriately augmented by the Royal Exhibition Building’s Brunelleschi-inspired Italianate dome hovering over.
A grandstand for 1200 nestles in the east transept with surrounding spaces breaking down the confines of conventional theatre. While performers can be glanced off-stage without distraction, the pièce de résistance comes in the final scene as the citizens of the guilds and people of Nuremberg form a procession, advancing from the opposite western transept at the rear of the stage.
Set designer Andrew Bailey’s two-level, open-framed construction harmonises thoughtfully with the building’s mint-coloured webbing of roof trusses, enabling great flexibility that includes delightfully twee infills to create Act 2’s street scene. Karine Larché’s period costumes are fashioned with a sprinkling of wittiness and lighting designer Philip Lethlean works the changes of natural light with theatrical drama splendidly.
Musically, snippets of familiar Wagnerian motifs and phrases criss-cross the score as part of its more than 4-hour seduction (not including two lengthy intervals). The results are superbly delivered with brilliantly contrasted boldness and subtlety by an almost 60-strong expert-playing MO Orchestra under conductor Anthony Negus – MO’s consistent and insightful choice as interpreter of Wagner’s music. And the cathedral-like acoustics are winning.
The music-making provides excellent balance and support for the large all-Australian cast, well-matched in both casting and performance quality. Baritone Warwick Fyfe renders Sachs with a mix of steadfast authority and honest warmth that is reflected in impressive vocal muscularity and expressive colour.
James Egglestone fronts up with his best performance yet as an ardent and affable Walther, the ring of his golden tenor permeating the space heroically despite being momentarily stretched in Walther’s melting, over-the-top aria that gets much exposure – the comically christened The Blissful Morning Dream Interpretation Melody.
Christopher Hillier is exceptional, tickling every opportunity with astutely acted humour and imbuing the punctilious Beckmesser with his richly sculptured baritone.
Lee Abrahmsen is deliciously lush and radiant as Eva, seemingly striving to make mince meat of the prize that Eva is with a sense of assuredness and self-respect in the face of such absurdity and denigration.
Both Steven Gallop, as Eva’s lordly father, Pogner, and Robert Macfarlane, as Sach’s happy-go-lucky apprentice, David, are a strong presence and, shining among supporting roles, mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble’s jaunty Magdalena is a plush treat.
The peripheral mastersingers are an amusingly motley lot giving every bit of themselves, Henry Shaw deserves mention as the sonorous Nightwatchman and the heaving MO Chorus is, in every step and note, impeccably convincing.
Wagner’s orchestral and vocal writing bursts with such emotion, introspection and life that, in spite of being dressed as a comedy, tears might flow for the beauty that art can achieve. MO has another Wagnerian title firmly under its belt and their audience will be begging for another chance to experience opera at this astonishing building.
Parsifal is the last remaining work of Wagner’s mature canon MO will no doubt be planning for. Many will be wondering when and where but, should MO happen to consider a full-blown Wagner festival, they’ve certainly stumbled on the perfect venue.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Royal Exhibition Building, 9 Nicholson Street, Carlton
Performance: Sunday 16 February 2025
Season continues to 22 February 2025
Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au
For more information, visit: www.melbourneopera.com for details
Images: Michael Lampard (Fritz Kothner), James Egglestone (Walther von Stolzing), Christopher Hillier (Sixtus Beckmesser), Warwich Fyfe (Hans Sachs), Henry Choo (Kunz Vogelsang), Michael Honeyman (Hermann Ortel), Steven Gallop (Veit Pogner) and Company – photo by Robin Halls | Warwick Fyfe (Hans Sachs) and Lee Abrahmsen (Eva) – photo by Robin Halls | Warwick Fyfe (Hans Sachs) and Christopher Hillier (Sixtus Beckmesser) – photo by Robin Halls | Christopher Hillier (Sixtus Beckmesser) – photo by Robin Halls
Review: Paul Selar