Wagner was not a feminist (and that's ok): Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the ROH
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
The Royal Opera
Royal Opera House
8 March 2017, general rehearsal
Amphitheatre D76, staff ticket
http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/die-meistersinger-von-nurnberg-by-kasper-holten
Kasper Holten has a habit of staging my favourite operas (he must have impeccable taste). I've not seen his work away from the Royal Opera House but here he has had a tendency to over-complicate things and to drive a pessimistic agenda that to my mind is often at odds with the story and, more problematically, the music. Thus Eugene Onegin was bedevilled by unexplained doubles; even if you knew what they were there for (manifestations of the opera's themes of regret and nostalgia) they distracted from the action and punctured this wonderful opera's immediacy and intimacy. Don Giovanni had many interesting things going for it – as with Eugene Onegin, Holten had clearly worked closely with the cast on many interesting and I think sound ideas of characterization – but the climactic scene of Don Giovanni's descent into hell had all the momentum sapped from it as I struggled to make sense of what was being shown: an imaginary banquet, an imaginary Leporello, a real (?) Commendatore… Szymanowski's Król Roger I thought was more straightforward, but then I don't like the piece nearly so much so probably, if we're honest, I am much more forgiving.
So I wasn't too surprised to find Meistersinger sound in some ways and in others vexingly contrary to what I want from the opera – which, given Holten has a very hard act to follow in Richard Jones's completely perfect WNO production, is on balance not a bad result. As with Eugene Onegin and Don Giovanni, what I found frustrating is where Holten seems to have got carried away with his ideas at the expense of the music. In Meistersinger there were two pinch points: the Act II riot and the Act III finale, which is a bit of a shame as these set pieces are pretty much as good as opera gets. Otherwise, some minor irritations aside, I think the gentleman's club idea is not necessarily bad; that the set had some cool moments and generally worked to the singers' advantage (although not, oddly, in the Act III quintet); that the costumes looked fabulous; and that it was all extremely well rehearsed and very slick (apart from the bizarre floating wobbly platforms for Eva and Walther in Act II). These are not easy things to achieve, especially in a piece of such gargantuanness, so all credit to Holten for coralling his performers so effectively.
But those pinch points. The riot is such wonderful music, and I suppose Holten's staging has the advantage in that it allows the chorus to do little else but concentrate on the conductor. But part of its wonderfulness is its dramatic aptness, and that is disrupted when the riot is interpreted as a dream. This might have worked (although I'm sceptical) if Holten had given more time to establishing the dreamlike nature of this act (or opera?) – but in the end it feels half-hearted, with only the faunish Nightwatchmen to suggest that we are entering the realms of the unreal. It feels like an idea that has not been quite finished – a prop to make the best of the fact that the street riot cannot happen because we never leave the confines of the gentleman's club. Still, nothing dints the enjoyment of this glroious music.
The finale is more problematic, and has the power to unravel the concept as a whole if you let it. Holten and Rachel Willis-Sørensen have throughout the production tried to hint that their Eva is an independent and forthright young woman with a pretty low opinion of all this Meistersinger crap. Not too bad, I suppose – after all, she's keen enough to run off with Walther in Act II to escape her father's will. But in Act III that not-your-usual-Eva personality goes into overdrive as she tries (silently, of course) to discourage Walther from joining the Meistersingers, and when that fails walks out on the lot of them, leaving all those silly men to their silly business. Why would such an Eva have agreed to her father's idea of giving her away as a prize? (Holten and the excellent Stephen Milling have done a good job earlier of painting a recognizable and tender relationship between father and daughter.) But regardless of character consistency, Eva's actions undercut and distract from music of the most glorious, humanity-celebrating, life-affirming beauty and power. That power has been used to support very terrible ends in the past century so perhaps fair enough that directors should be wary from letting us go along with it – but on the other hand can we not now reclaim that glory, and as Jones did in his production celebrate the fact that a human being was capable of creating such a thing?
Musically the performances are on the whole very strong. Johannes Martin Kränzle only made his ROH debut last autumn, as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Everything about that performance augured well for his Beckmesser and he lives up to and even exceeds those expectations: a beautiful sound, good projection and wonderful diction, and, as you would hope for, a sympathetic portrayal of a character whose pride and disappointment I think we all share in one way or another. Bryn Terfel sings with the authority and confidence you would expect of a world-class singer at the top of his game; I don't buy his and Holten's idea of Sachs as a cynical exploiter of other people's talents, but that hardly detracts from this authoritative performance. Gwynn Hughes Jones seems to have grown in vocal stature since his performance of Walther with ENO and was impressive throughout, as was Allan Clayton as David. Willis-Sørensen has never quite lived up to my memory of her performance as Gutrune in 2012, but she mostly delivered the goods here and soared very beautifully in the quintet. Antonio Pappano might not be my first choice in Wagner but he draws wonderful performances from all involved, particularly the tireless orchestra and chorus, in a well-paced account; my only complaint would be that the orchestra occasionally overwhelms the singers.
Post scriptum
I've seen Meistersinger twice subsequently (19 March, Stalls circle standing D44, £20; 25 March, Amphitheatre S45, £54 – thanks, Jonathan, for the ticket) and I don't think Holten's production improves on rewatching. Act II has become the most problematic for me: the lack of a town setting means a lot of the text doesn't make sense; the wobbly heart-shaped platforms which move the lovers together and then apart again are annoying; also annoying is the fact that Sachs hammers everything around him except the shoe in his hand when marking Beckmesser; and also that Sachs should be working out of a kind of tool box; in addition to the static non-riot. But I'm very grateful to have been able to return to these performers. Judging on the first two acts Terfel seems increasingly unconvinced by his character as interpreted by Holten – but particularly from the Amphitheatre he pulled out the stops in magnificent style for the final act, which after all is the most important. Allan Clayton is a joy from start to finish, introducing radical differences with each performance and all in all giving the impression of someone who loves performing and loves this piece. And I should have mentioned Sebastian Holecek as Kothner in the original post: though his voice maybe doesn't have all the agility it needs in that role, he is gloriously loud.
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