On September 2, 2006 at Usher Hall, the curtain came down (symbolically) on the 15-year tenure by Brian McMaster of the Edinburgh International Festival. The offering was Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg and it was exactly what he wanted and planned for - a complete concert performance lasting just under six hours and with the finest cast obtainable. Even the minor mastersinger characters were taken by some of the most illustrious if superannuated performers of the day - artists of the stature of John Mitchinson, John-Shirley Quirk, Richard Van Allan and Jeffrey Lawton.
Jonas Kaufmann sang his first Walther and others in the cast included Robert Holl as Hans Sachs, Hillevi Martinpelto as Eva, Andrew Shore as Beckmesser, Toby Spence as David and Matthew Rose as Pogner. The American David Robertson, well-known to Boston Symphony audiences, conducted the excellent BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
If this was a special occasion for McMaster, it was also one for the audience, the most attentive I have ever experienced. Neither a cough nor a rustling of programs (which included a full libretto) could be heard at any time during the performance.
Would that we had such attentive audiences here in our concert and opera venues.
And what about the performance? Robert Holl is a major presence in European opera houses and he did not disappoint. Within the confines of a concert hall, he communicated the trials and tribulations of Hans Sachs with authority and sympathy. He has an ideal voice for Sachs and was as fresh vocally at the end as he was at the beginning. Hillevi Martinpelto is also a regular in the leading European houses. She has a full rich voice and would be an asset in American houses as well. Toby Spence is a bright-voiced tenor, thoroughly at home in his role. Andrew Shore and Matthew Rose brought considerable experience and fine vocalism to their roles.
The big surprise was Jonas Kaufmann. In a role that is usually sung by big-voiced tenors who also have in their repertoire Tristan and/or Otello, Kaufmann is an exception. He is a lyric tenor, an Alfredo, a Tamino. He sang with tonal beauty and sensitivity, the likes of which I had not previously experienced in this role. He also looked the part to perfection, which is certainly not a detriment.
David Robertson did a remarkable job of conducting the orchestra and chorus (the remarkable Edinburgh Festival Chorus), and at the same time, bobbing his head from side to side to cue the singers stationed to his right and left. Quite a feat! He was full of energy, to be sure, but just as certainly not on the level of James Levine's insightful work at the Metropolitan Opera. At the end, the capacity audience paid tribute to the cast, the orchestra and the chorus, but also to Brian McMaster, the man behind the festival for these many years. It was a night to remember for him and also for us the audience.
Angelo Mammano
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