Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (CD): Solti, van Dam, René Pape, Ben Heppner, Karita Mattila
Conductor Georg Solti
Hans Sachs José van Dam
Veit Pogner René Pape
Kunz Vogelgesang Roberto Sacca
Konrad Nachtigall Gary Martin
Sixtus Beckmesser Alan Opie
Fritz Kothner Albert Dohmen
Balthasar Zorn John Horton Murray
Ulrich Eißlinger Richard Byrne
Augustin Moser Stephen Tharp
Hermann Ortel Kevin Deas
Hans Schwarz Stephen Morscheck
Hans Foltz Kelly Anderson
Walther von Stolzing Ben Heppner
Eva Karita Mattila
Magdalene Iris Vermillon
David Herbert Lippert
Ein Nachtwächter Kelly Anderson
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Recorded live in 1995
Georg
Solti's Meistersinger with Ben Heppner and Karita Mattila on Amazon
I think I love Die Meistersinger more than anything else which Wagner wrote. It's such a positive, life-giving piece. It doesn't deal with gods or heroes: the characters are the ordinary citizens of Nuremberg, everyday people, and I love them.
Georg Solti (booklet to the recording)
Reviews
Ben Heppner [...] not just heroic but clear and unstrained, ardently following Solti's urgency in the Prize Song, a performance more beatiful than any of recent years except his own for Sawallisch. Karita Mattila sings with comparable beauty as Eva.
[...]
It is a cast to rival any on disc, making this a clear recommendation if you want a digital recording.
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008
