Met Opera Held Fifth Revival of Schenk-Staged Meistersinger in 2007

Summary: Met Opera held the fifth revival of Schenk-staged Meistersinger in 2007, after skipping three seasons following the 2002-2003 season's fourth revival.

American bass-baritone James Morris (center) made his second reprisal of historical master-singing cobbler Hans Sachs in Met Opera's fifth revival of Otto Schenk's 1992-1993 new production of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; he had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the 2001-2002 season's third revival; he made his third reprisal of Hans Sachs in the 2014-2015 season's sixth revival: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 1, 2014

Met Opera held the fifth revival of the Schenk-staged Meistersinger in 2007, after skipping the three seasons (2003-2004; 2004-2005; 2005-2006) that followed the production's fourth revival in the 2002-2003 season.

Otto Schenk's new Met Opera production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ("The Master-Singer of Nuremburg") by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) debuted at the opera house on Thursday, Jan. 14, 1993. The Austrian opera and theater director had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 4, 1968, in the opera house's 490th performance of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

The production's first revival had been staged in the 1995-1996 season. After an absence of one season (1996-1997), the production's second revival had taken place in the 1997-1998 season. Three seasons (1998-1999; 1999-2000; 2000-2001) gapped between the second revival and the 2001-2002 season's third revival. Back-to-back staging occurred with the 2002-2003 season-rostered fourth revival.

After three inactive seasons (2003-2004; 2004-2005; 2005-2006), the Schenk-staged Meistersinger production claimed its fifth revival in the 2006-2007 season. The fifth revival received four performances, all in March 2007. The revival opened Thursday, March 1. The second and third performances were offered Monday, March 5, and Saturday, March 10, respectively. The fifth revival's fourth, closing performance took place Tuesday, March 13.

James Morris (born Jan. 10, 1947) reprised the title role of historical cobbler and meistersinger Hans Sachs for all four of the fifth revival's performances. He had added Hans to his Met Opera portfolio in the third revival. His first reprisal of the role had occurred in the fourth revival. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Jan. 7, 1971, as the King in the opera company's 782nd performance of Aida by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Hei-Kyung Hong (born July 4, 1959) sang Eva Pogner, prized for the meistersinger contest's winner, in all four of the fifth revival's performances. The South Korean-American lyric soprano made her Metropolitan Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 17, 1984, as Servilia in the opera company’s eighth performance of La Clemenza di Tito by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Johan Botha (Aug. 19, 1965-Sep. 8, 2016) reprised the role of knightly meistersinger contest winner Walther von Stolzing for all four of the fifth revival's performances. He had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the third revival. His first reprisal of the role had occurred in the fourth revival. The South African operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Jan. 6, 1997, as Canio in the opera company's 659th performance of Pagliacci by Italian opera composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919).

Maria Zifchak sang Magdalene, Eva's companion, in all four of the fifth revival's performances. The American mezzo-soprano debuted Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000, as Kate Pinkerton in the opera company’s 741st performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Matthew Polenzani (born 1968) made his first reprisal as David, apprenticed to Hans Sachs, in all three of the fourth revival's performances. The American lyric tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 19, 1997, as Khrushchov in the opera company’s 251st performance of Boris Godunov by Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881).

Hans-Joachim Ketelsen (born Feb. 17, 1945) made his second reprisal as master-singing town clerk Berkmesser in all four of the fifth revival's performances. The German operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Oct. 13, 1994, as Mandryka in the opera house's 39th performance of Arabella by German composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sep. 8, 1949).

John Del Carlo (Sep. 21, 1951-Oct. 29, 2016) made his fifth reprisal of master-singing baker Kothner via all four of the fifth revival's performances. The American operatic bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut in the new production's opening performance, Thursday, Jan. 14, 1993.

Evgeny Nikitin (born Sep. 30, 1973) sang Eva's master-singing goldsmith father, Veit Pogner, in all four of the fifth revival's performances. The Russian bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002, as Lieutenant Dolokhov in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of War and Peace by Soviet composer, conductor and pianist Sergei Prokofiev (April 23, 1891-March 5, 1953).

John Relyea (born in 1972) sang the Night Watchman in all four of the fifth revival's performances. He had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the third revival and had made his reprisal of the Night Watchman in the fourth revival. The Canadian operatic bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000, as Alidoro in the opera company's 13th performance of La Cenerentola by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

James Levine reprised his conductorship for the first three of the fifth revival's four performances. He had conducted the new production's debut season and first through fourth revivals. Met Opera's second Music Director had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, June 5, 1971, in the opera company's 539th performance of Puccini's Tosca.

James Levine shared the fifth revival's conductorship with John Keenan, who conducted the fifth revival's fourth, closing performance. The American conductor had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 1, 1990, in the opera company's 405th performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Peter McClintock reprised his position as stage director from the new production's first through fourth revivals. The American stage director had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Dec. 4, 1995, in the first revival's first performance, which numbered as the opera company's 387th performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger.

After the fifth revival's fourth, closing performance, the Schenk-staged Meistersinger production experienced its longest absence from Met Opera's performance roster. After an absence of seven seasons (2007-2008 through 2013-2014), the sixth revival surfaced in the 2014-2015 season.

The takeaways for Met Opera's holding the fifth revival of the Schenk-staged Meistersinger in 2007 are that three inactive seasons (2003-2004 through 2005-2006) had elapsed between the 2002-2003 season's fourth revival and the 2006-2007 season's fifth revival; that the fifth revival received four performances, all in March 2007; that James Morris, Johan Bothan and John Relya reprised their respective roles as historical Hans Sachs, knightly Walther von Stolzing and the Night Watchman; that Peter McClintock reprised his position as the revival's stage director; that James Levine's sole ownership of the position of production and revival conductor ended with his passing the baton to John Keenan for the fifth revival's fourth, closing performance; and that the seven inactive seasons that separated the 2006-2007 season's fourth revival from the 2014-2015 season's sixth revival marked the longest non-performance spell in the production's revival history.

South African operatic tenor Johan Botha reprised motivated master-singing neophyte Walther von Stolzing for Met Opera's fourth revival of Otto Schenk's 1992-1993 new production of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; he had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the third revival and made his second and third reprisals in the fifth and sixth revivals, respectively: Jeff Spurgeon @JeffWQXR, via Twitter Sept. 8, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

American bass-baritone James Morris (center) made his second reprisal of historical master-singing cobbler Hans Sachs in Met Opera's fifth revival of Otto Schenk's 1992-1993 new production of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; he had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the 2001-2002 season's third revival; he made his third reprisal of Hans Sachs in the 2014-2015 season's sixth revival: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 1, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10154955018445533/10154955019125533/

South African operatic tenor Johan Botha reprised motivated master-singing neophyte Walther von Stolzing for Met Opera's fourth revival of Otto Schenk's 1992-1993 new production of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; he had added the role to his Met Opera portfolio in the third revival and made his second and third reprisals in the fifth and sixth revivals, respectively: Jeff Spurgeon @JeffWQXR, via Twitter Sept. 8, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/JeffWQXR/status/906111924525510657/photo/1

For further information:

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