On the side of Seiffert’s Walther is Petra-Maria Schnitzer, her beautiful lyric voice reaches its limit on one or two notes in the very beautifully sung “Selig, wie der Sonne”, but throughout the evening her performance is remarkable, both vocally and in acting. As Eva’s father, Pogner, Salminen also delivers an outstanding performance. (He’s one of my favorite basses at OZ for very good reasons.) His dark and authoritative timbre which is just perfect for the role does not prevent him to give a portrait of a loving farther in Act 2.
Caught in between great singers like van Dam and Seiffert, OZ’s young lyric tenor, Christoph Strehl (David), does not let himself to be overlooked. His lighter and softer timbre forms a contrast with Seiffert’s voice, but they also harmonize pretty well in a way. One really has the feeling that Strehl’s David an young, kind-hearted, still a bit innocent apprentice—the kind of guy that would invoke your maternal feelings—not that I have any, but I still feel like to pet his cheeks like an old auntie.
IMHO, Michael Volle’s warm timbre is a bit too nice for a despicable figure like Beckmesser, nonetheless he sings and acts very convincingly. As I’ve said before, this MEISTERSINGER is very well cast, basically no weak link IMO. Speaking about the cast, I’ve noticed most “Lehrbuben” are sung by the students of OZ’s apprentice program which gives this production a bit of pun—apprentices singing apprentices and masters singing masters on the stage. 时
And of course, my newest favorite bass, Guenther Groissboeck, gives not only an ear-catching, but also eye-catching performance as Nachtwaechter, since he wears a shiny armor that is really hard to oversee even in the dark. He sounds a bit nervous, but that does not interfere with his performance. Btw, his diction is superb; every syllable is sung loud and clear. This is the passage where I wish Wagner would take even more time to make his point, so I could hear more of Groissboeck luscious voice. ;-))
Synopsis of MEISTERSINGER:
http://opera.stanford.edu/Wagner/Meistersinger/synopsis.html
http://www.opera-opera.com.au/plotw.htm#wagnmeis
Photos:
www.opernhaus.ch 
