Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Finnish National Opera

About the Event

Harry Kupfer, who previously directed the impressive Parsifal, sets the medieval tale of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" in war‐torn Germany in the modern era.

Young Walther finds himself compelled to win a singing competition, because the prize is the hand of Eva in marriage. Entrants need to be well versed in the ancient rules of the mastersingers to even be allowed to enter the competition, but Walther is inspired to sing of love in a new style. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a grandiose opera by Wagner setting a good‐humoured story about the encounter of old and new worlds.

In this opera, Wagner depicts young love and laughter instead of the epic canvases for which he is better known. For all its light‐heartedness, the story is also a serious exploration of the tensions between freedom and strict rules in art.

Performed in German, surtitles in Finnish, Swedish and English.


Production:

Conductor: Michael Güttler
Director: Harry Kupfer
Sets: Hans Schavernoch
Costumes: Yan Tax
Lighting design: Jürgen Hoffmann

Cast:

Hans Sachs: Mika Kares
Veit Pogner: Jyrki Korhonen
Kunz Vogelgesang: Juha Riihimäki
Konrad Nachtigall: Jukka Romu
Sixtus Beckmesser: Michael Kraus
Fritz Kothner: Jussi Merikanto
Balthasar Zorn: Jyrki Anttila
Ulrich Eisslinger: Petri Bäckström
Augustin Moser: Aki Alamikkotervo

Hermann Ortel: Hannu Forsberg
Hans Schwarz: Nicholas Söderlund
Hans Foltz: Koit Soasepp
Walther von Stolzing: Mika Pohjonen
David: Tuomas Katajala
Eva: NN
Magdalena: Niina Keitel
A Nightwatchman: Heikki Aalto