WAGNER: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Sebastian Weigle (2 DVD)

Franz Hawlata (Sachs), Michael Volle (Beckmesser), Michaela Kaune (Eva), Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther), Norbert Ernst (David), Carola Guber (Magdalene), Artur Korn (Pogner), Markus Eiche (Kothner)

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Sebastian Weigle

'... as all stage productions should be, this is 200 per cent a Meistersinger to see'. (Gramophone)

'[Volle's Beckmesser] is so consistently alert, so wary of traditional caricature, so mellifluous in sound, and so well acted that it is, in fact, almost plausible to see him as the opera's hero...Franz Hawlata is a refreshingly youthful Sachs (which makes the Sachs-Eva-Walther triangle more affecting)'. (International Record Review)

'this production revolves around Beckmesser, and Michael Volle puts in an exceptional performance...I would urge even the sceptics to take this production seriously...A complex and troubling but also consummate and satisfying experience: even on DVD it leaves a lasting impression'. (Classical Review)