Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” Overture: Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle Dresden

Richard Wagner’s 1868 opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (“The Mastersingers of Nuremberg”), is a comic love story, set in the sixteenth century. Its plot centers around the historical Master Singers, an ancient guild of amateur poets and musicians who were primarily middle class master craftsmen of various trades. The guild’s Tabulatur, or law book, established an intricate system of rules which dictated the structure and performance of songs.

The opera’s principle theme involves the conflict between tradition and innovation. The young hero, Walther, is a brazen outsider who enters the singing contest with a radical song which breaks all of the rules. In contrast with the guild’s conservatism, he states that he “learned to sing from nature and birds.” Ultimately, Walther triumphs, winning the competition, as well as the hand of Eva in marriage. A balance is found between tradition and new ideas.

Wagner, himself a musical radical filled with new ideas, composed the Prelude to Act 1 of Die Meistersinger in 1861 before beginning work on the opera itself. During a train trip from Venice to Vienna, he “immediately and with the greatest clarity conceived the main section of the overture in C major.”

A drama of instrumental voices, the Prelude reveals all of the opera’s principle leitmotifs (recurring motifs associated with people, situations, or ideas). It begins with a majestic theme evocative of the guild’s tradition. A longing, sighing motif accompanies the love-at-first-sight meeting of Walther and Eva in a church soon after the curtain rises. There is also the bustling, energetic music of the mastersingers’ apprentices. With a nod to musical tradition, Wagner weaves these themes into a double fugue. The Prelude’s spectacular final moments bring a blazing display of counterpoint in which three independent themes weave together. It is a feat which has been compared with the finale of Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony. Commentator Richard Atkinson provides a fascinating analysis of this brilliant contrapuntal display.

This performance, featuring Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle Dresden, was recorded in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall on January 24, 1998. Wagner served as Hofkapellmeister of the Staatskapelle Dresden for five years in the mid 1840s.

Featured Image: photograph by Tanja Niemann

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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