Posted by Eric Though there is much critical praise for other recordings that are better known and far more widely available, none of those performances can hold a candle to what's offered here. Bohm certainly outdid himself, by far. For example, there was a much more widely available early recording of Bohm conducting only the third act, and that performance pales in comparison with the third act here. And, whereas Bohm's late DGG recording of Wagner overtures with the Vienna Philharmonic includes a good performance of the overture to Meistersinger, that performance also pales by comparison with the one that opens this recording. I cannot think of a better example of the utter disconnect between a performance's quality and the amount of public and critical attention and praise which the performance has acquired, than this extremely obscure recording of Meistersinger. I hope that someone someday will explain how it came to be that this recording slipped into oblivion and didn't become recognized as being one of the, if not as the, greatest of the century. Inasmuch as the fleeting availability of this performance is over, perhaps some better distributed label will reissue it and proclaim on its front that "This is the greatest performance ever recorded of any musical work." The claim would not be hyperbole, but a mere statement of fact.
on September 18, 2007, 4:04:35, in reply to "Help - Meistersinger Recordings"
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Quite possibly the greatest performance ever captured of any piece of music on records was the only recording that Karl Bohm conducted of the complete Die Meistersinger. It was briefly available on Arkadia CD's. This 1944 studio recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, and Schoffler, Seider, Seefried, Dermota, and Kunz, is a miracle, which impresses enormously at first hearing and gets only better and better with each hearing. The overture glows, with no sacrifice of its monumentality; and the entire opera holds together better than I've ever heard. This is a performance that sounds so natural, everything in it is completely persuasive. The cast is similarly flawless. The orchestra sings as only the Vienna Philharmonic can. Bohm keeps a steady pulse throughout the four hours. He was a great conductor, especially in opera, but you cannot imagine how great this performance is: It will inevitably surpass your expectations, especially with repeated hearings, and it will come to redefine your ideal if your ideal isn't already precisely this.
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