My previous experience of a live Wagner opera was Tristan<\/i> at the Bristol Hippodrome, before the lifetime of this blog. I was invited to sing in the chorus of Tarnhelm Opera’s staging of Meistersinger<\/i>, but wasn’t free on the evening of one of the performances. I was able to go to the other one though.<\/p>\n
It was cut down to two hours, but with considerable skill so that the essentials of the plot and most of the high points survived. The only part I really missed was the chorus which precedes the contest; something I sang myself in an opera gala performance<\/a>. Perhaps if I knew the opera more thoroughly I would have noticed the gaps more. The accompaniment was provided by organ (demanding as it played throughout) and harp, and as the performance progressed I adjusted to this and didn’t find myself missing the orchestra.<\/p>\n Several of the singers were familiar to me from Bath Opera performances and I’d already had a chance to chat to a couple of the people involved when they visited Christ Church the previous Sunday to case the joint. All concerned had a good time and dare I say it, but Meistersinger<\/i> benefits from a few cuts? I suppose that shows I’m not really a Wagnerian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My previous experience of a live Wagner opera was Tristan at the Bristol Hippodrome, before the lifetime of this blog. I was invited to sing in the chorus of Tarnhelm Opera’s staging of Meistersinger, but wasn’t free on the evening … Continue reading