Be among the first to hear about upcoming ticket giveaways, and the latest USUO news. Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, harp, strings. He conducted the Prelude as a concert work in the fall. THE MUSIC — The full production of Meistersinger would not occur until but the ten-minute Prelude Wagner unveiled six years before hinted at something that would become rather unique in his catalogue — pure, uncomplicated optimism.
The story details a 16th century singing contest put on by the Guild of Mastersingers in the town of Nuremberg. It speaks essentially to the eternal struggle between old and new, between the conservative musical traditionalists and the unbound forward-thinkers. Many of the characters in the opera were based on actual historical figures from the time and the Guild itself did in fact exist.
The Mastersingers were skilled German folk vocalists, active from the very end of the mediaeval period to the 19th century and made up of common tradespeople with an intense devotion to music. His version centered on the battle between his own progressive compositional ideas and the rigidly anachronistic mindset of some of his critics. One of the most ardent was a man named Eduard Hanslick and some have posited that the dour character of Beckmesser was created as his unflattering caricature.
The bright and agreeable Prelude to Die Meistersinger includes none of this presumed baggage however. Christopher Seaman was on the podium. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Join Our Email List. The Rite of Spring. Learn More View Tickets. Bravo Broadway! Mahler's Symphony 5. Mahler's "Tragic" Symphony.
