Opera "The Nuremberg Mastersingers" by R. Wagner: summary

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The opera "Meistersingers of Nuremberg" occupies a special place in the work of the famous German composer Richard Wagner. Work on it was carried out for several years, from 1861 to 1867. The composer created one of his best works on the basis of a libretto composed by him, recorded in German. For the first time, the opera "Meistersingers of Nuremberg" was presented to the public in Munich, the premiere date is June 21, 1868.

The work consists of three main actions. The full performance (excluding intermissions) takes four and a half hours. All events in the story take place in the German city of Nuremberg.

Work on the piece

It took 22 years from the moment the first ideas appeared to the final embodiment of the opera. At first, the composer worked on various sketches and determined the genre of the future work. Wagnerwanted to create a new comedic parallel to his other recently completed work - "Tannhäuser".

The great composer took up the "Mastersingers of Nuremberg" seriously only in 1861 and completed what he started in 1867. The work included a variety of leitmotifs, a rich and colorful melody, piercing lyricism and a lot of pleasant humor.

Wagner's Die Meistersingers of Nuremberg: Overture

The composer dedicated his first theme to Meistersingers, poet-singers from Germany in the 17th century. The overture also reveals several other main themes of the work: passionate languor, reward, declaration of love, brotherhood, irony and mockery, and others. This is followed by a majestic climax, and finally the overture to the "Mastersingers of Nuremberg" brings the story to the first act.

Act I. Part 1

First, as noted earlier, we are introduced to the overture to Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger Nuremberg, which plays the role of an introduction and leads to the main events of the work. After that, the first scene begins: an ordinary summer day, a local church, a moment of declaration of love between two young people - a knight named W alter Stolzing and a recognized local beauty Eva Pogner. Being in love together can only be prevented by Eva's father, master Faith Pogner, who decided to give his daughter to the one who takes the title of the best singer in Nuremberg in the annual competition. The event should take place the very next day, outside the city, next to the riverPegnitz. The main condition of the competition is that only foremen - mastersingers can be its participants.

Act I. Part 2

Wishing to win the hand and heart of his beloved, W alter is ready to neglect his knightly honor and join the workshop of masters. In fact, everything turns out to be not so simple, because the workshop has its own rules for accepting newcomers. It turns out that before becoming a master, the candidate must learn all the subtleties of the art of singing. Naturally, W alter's request leads to general indignation. However, such a reaction does not stop Stolzing, and he asks for a decisive test for him. After that, the hero excitedly performs his song. The role of the judge falls on the shoulders of the city clerk Sixt Beckmesser - he must follow the singing of W alter and at the same time write down his mistakes on a special board. The performance is still going on, and the blackboard is already covered in chalk!

Stolzing's bad result is to the liking of the self-satisfied Beckmesser, because he himself hopes to get the beautiful Eva as his wife. The masters demand to stop the test and announce their decision: accepting W alter into the ranks of the Meistersingers is out of the question! The only one who tries to support the young knight is an elderly shoemaker named Hans Sachs. Unfortunately for Stolzing, no one listens to Sax's opinion, and the hero has to leave the masters with nothing.

Action II. Part 1

It's getting dark. Urbanthe streets begin to empty, and the lonely Hans Sachs appears before the audience. The elderly Meistersinger, weighed down by sad thoughts, is still under the impression of W alter's song. We learn that Sachs has long had a deep and tender feeling of love towards Eva, whom he knew as a very young child. Being a recognized poet, Hans could personally take part in the competition and, without any doubt, win it - he would hardly have found worthy rivals. However, the venerable Meistersinger is well aware that his person can cause in a young girl only a feeling of deep respect, but not love.

Suddenly, Eva herself appears on the street. Seeing her, Sachs pretends to be indignant at Stolzing's insolence. The girl's answer finally opens the old man's eyes: the young people really love each other.

Action II. Part 2

Slowly night falls in Nuremberg. W alter arrives at the house of his beloved in order to convince her to run away with him from the city. Suddenly, the conversation of the young is interrupted by the approaching sounds of a playing lute - Beckmesser appears. The hero is not only sure that he will certainly win tomorrow's competition, but also wants to demonstrate his musical talent to his future wife in advance. Intoxicated with self-confidence, Beckmesser begins to sing a serenade. He does not notice at all that it is not his beloved Eve at the window, but the nurse Magdalena who pretended to be her. At the same time, the serenade is interrupted by the sound of a hammer - this is a shoemakerSax does his job while singing a simple song. Beckmesser begins to express his dissatisfaction, but Hans does not even think of stopping. In the end, the men come to a common agreement: the elderly Meistersinger continues his work, but at the same time uses the blows of his hammer to point out errors in the clerk's singing. It soon turns out that Beckmesser made so many mistakes that Sachs was able to finish his work before the song ended.

Action II. Part 3

The clerk does not have time to sing even the middle of his serenade, when he begins to wake up the locals with his harsh and unpleasant voice. Awakens from a dream and a student of Sachs - young David. He notices that the girl Beckmesser is serenading is his fiancée Magdalena. The young man rushes at his false rival and starts a fight with him. Soon the neighbors, who ran out to the noise, are also connected to the trouble. Women are trying to separate the fighting, but all in vain. Only the watchman, honking his horn, succeeds in putting an end to the night brawl. The townspeople begin to disperse to their homes. Sax and W alter leave the street together. The signal and the voice of the watchman are heard again. The streets of Nuremberg plunge into the silence of the night.

Action III. Painting 1. Part 1

This time the events of the "Mastersingers of Nuremberg" take us to the house of an elderly shoemaker Sachs. It is not easy for the hero to come to terms with the fact that Eve's heart is given to another. He continues to reflect on how unsuccessfully hisown life. Despite this, the great love for people that lives in the heart of Sachs turns out to be stronger than tender feelings for the beautiful Eve. The venerable Meistersinger understands that his songs can inspire others to do good deeds, as well as instill in other people's hearts and souls a desire for beauty.

David appears in the house. The young man shows Sachs a song for tomorrow's competition, which he plans to perform in person. The shoemaker appreciates the student's efforts and wishes him a happy marriage with his beloved bride.

Action III. Painting 1. Part 2

Another guest appears in Hans' house - W alter. The elderly shoemaker greets the knight with sincere joy. He hopes to help the young man, if not win the competition, then at least take part in it. The man tells W alter that it is important for every Meistersinger to be aware of the rules of the art of singing and understand all the accompanying laws. Stolzing is grateful for the advice received. He decides to share with Saks a beautiful song that was born in his soul and which is dedicated to his beloved. An elderly master offers to help record a song.

Action III. Painting 1. Part 3

Suddenly, the city clerk decides to drop by the shoemaker. He needs poems with which he could perform in the upcoming competition and bypass all rivals. Beckmesser himself complains that because of the night fight he had absolutely no strength left. He looks around the old master's house and finally notices a piece of paper with hishandwriting. Having run his eyes over the written, Beckmesser cannot believe his luck - he has a finished song in his hands! Without thinking twice, the man folds the sheet and hides it in his pocket.

Sachs appears in the room. The sight of Beckmesser immediately betrays his real intentions. Hoping to teach the arrogant guest a lesson, the elderly master gives him the stolen song and even admits that he himself decided to refuse to participate in the competition. Beckmesser is not overjoyed with his luck: now he has got rid of the strongest opponent! Confident in his victory, he goes to the venue of the competition. W alter goes there too. Sachs gives him good parting words and fatherly blessings. In order to throw off the sadness that has rolled in, the elderly master holds a cheerful ceremony, where he announces David as his personal apprentice. The event is well received by the locals, everyone is having fun and celebrating.

Action III. Picture 2

Competition time is coming. Almost all the inhabitants of Nuremberg converge to the river. The craftsmen also come up, gathered in whole columns and holding bright flags in their hands. Songs are heard from each workshop, young people dance and entertain themselves with various games.

Finally, the main moment of the competition comes. Participants come forward, spectators pull up from all sides. In the center of the circle is a self-satisfied Beckmesser. And then it turns out that, due to excessive confidence in success, the proud clerk did not even bother to properly prepare for the event and learn the stolensong by heart. All his attempts lead to ridicule from the audience. Beckmesser blushes with indignation and shame and leaves the competition with nothing.

W alter's turn is coming up. He begins to sing about his feelings for his beloved, and his sincere performance, coming from a pure heart, delights the audience. Everyone present begins to sing along. W alter Stolzing is declared the deserving winner of the contest and is reunited with his bride-to-be Eva.

This concludes the summary of the Nuremberg Mastersingers. We recommend that all lovers of opera and good classical music read the work.