Customer Reviews
The Mastersingers of New York - By: Nicholas Casley, 11 May 2008 
"It didn't fit any of the rules." Thus does Hans Sachs contemplate at his leisure the new song by Stolzing, which provides the autobiographical key to Wagner's great comic opera. This DVD features a performance of Otto Schenk's traditionalist 1993 production at the Met. The performance was filmed live in December 2001.
A beaming James Levine clearly enjoys himself in the orchestra pit as he commences the opening prelude, & that smile of joy is prevalent throughout the following 290 minutes. The glorious sound of his orchestra & the perfect phrasing are a joy to hear.
The cast are superb. James Morris as the hero Sachs is indescribably flawless; Thomas Allen is equallly so as the prim & officious Beckmesser, & when both are on stage together, they are a delight to behold; Matthew Polenzani provides benign humour (Beckmesser's humour is tragic) through his portrayal of the apprentice David; & Rene Pape as Pogner displays the pride of a successful businessman who seeks fame by auctioning his daughter, truly a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
The casting is not visuallly perfect. Ben Heppner is too old to play Stolzing. He looks as if he could even be Eva's father. And he is too large to be a convincing beau, at least by contemporary standards. But his fine voice & committed performance cannot be doubted. Despite her mature beauty, Karita Mattila as the innocent & naïve Eva is, I'm afraid, for me too old to be convincing in the part too. But once these disappointments are taken on board, their performances are so good, & the music is so divine, that I still nevertheless consider this DVD to be worthy of five stars.
The only extra provided consists of an interesting picture galllery of the opera showing scenes from previous productions of this work at the Met.
If I could give 6 stars! - By: maximus, 07 Jun 2007 This is such a great value DVD, it deserved more than 5 stars :o) Not only is the video & sound quality superb, the staging is lavish & fitting of this huge Opera, but wait until you hear the music. From the moment you see Levine walk to the podium to start the Overture/Prelude I was gripped. The Orchestra play it to perfection & then comes the first scence with the solemn chorus & the solo performances that follow are out of this world. The balance between stage & orchestra pit is very well judges & you do feel you are at the live performance. If you are a Wagner fan, then this DVD is a must have along with Levine's Ring cycle (also recorded at the Met).
What a revelation - By: Neil Pelling, 06 Apr 2007 I have known the music to most of this opera for getting on for sixty years but have never seen it staged. This performance is superb especiallly James Morris as Hans Sachs & the Beckmesser of Thomas Allen. The staging & costumes are in keeping with the time it was written. (No modern update here). To watch this opera along with the english subtitles reallly brings home the comedy of the piece. Don't be put off by the length of it. This is no Pagliaaci. Watch it over two nights if necessary but if you like Wagner's music & have never seen one of his opera's give this a try. Better still rent it from Amazon as I did. You can purchase it later.It is cheaper than four CD's anyway.
Meister production ! - By: Steven Lust, 11 Dec 2006 No DVD can reproduce the atmosphere of live performance, but this one
comes about as close as possible. This performance radiates personality, charm & emotion with singing that's second to none. As other reviews have noted there are extremely fine performances from James Morris, Ben Heppner & René Pape. Excellent pcm recording if you don't have surround with detailed & well lit images which appear to dwarf the size of the Met. This DVD would still be a bargain at twice the price !
The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg (Levine) - By: Bradley Mohamed, 22 Oct 2006 This production is super. Karita Mattila has an elegant voice & the director makes her pretty to play Eva. Ben Heppner has such a voice that he sings the "Price Song" so beautifully. The "Price Song" has a reallly beautiful tune. The way how the singers in the "Quintet" sing is extraordinary. The act 1 prelude is reallly happy & joyous & Levine makes it triuphant music.
