Search - Werner Klumlikboldt, Adalbert Kraus, Sir Georg Solti :: Dis Meistersinger Von Nürnberg

Solti's reading of the Meistersinger is strong and solid--perhaps a bit too solid. While featuring the same Walter (Kollo) with a richer-sounding but somewhat wobbly Bailey as Sachs, the casting is generally not quite as good as that in the near-contemporary Karajan recording. The chorus work in this recording is a bit shaky in places, particularly considering the unparalleled importance of the chorus to this opera. The Vienna Philharmonic delivers a musically exact performance, but without the joie de vivre that one usually associates with this orchestra. Somehow the greater solidity of Solti's approach to Wagner which brings necessary gravitas to the Ring seems to turn into stolidity when applied to the more human scaled Meistersinger. --Christian C. Rix