Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, a co-production of the NCPA, Royal Opera House and Opera Australia, will be launched on May 31^st, and June 2^nd, 5^th and 7^th. A press conference was held on May 14^th, with the Vice President of the NCPA ZHAO Tiechun, Artistic irector of Music of the NCPA LÜ Jia and singers playing major roles in the opera, were in attendance.

Richard Wagner composed more than ten operas, and his style profoundly influenced the development of opera art in Germany and throughout Europe. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was composed by Wagner when his artistic style had already achieved maturity. Compared with his Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a romantic opera inspired by an artistic idea that is innovative. The opera contains the composer’s sincere admiration for his native art, veneration and succession to historical traditions, and perseverance in exploring artistic innovations.

After two weeks, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the fifth Wagner's opera of the NCPA repertoirem, will be unveiled 
Photo by WANG Xiaojing

In 2012, Der Fliegende Holländer, the first NCPA production of Wagner's opera, was put on stage. In the years that followed, the NCPA produced Wagner's Lohengrin, Tannhäuser and Tristan und Isolde, which have deeply impressed audiences in Beijing with their ultra-long duration, the arias nearly beyond the singers’ capacity limits, and the complex, tense orchestral music. The forthcoming opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is more challenging than the above in terms of duration, cast and production.

The Vice President of the NCPA ZHAO Tiechun said, “The forthcoming 'Meistersinger' is featured by a longer duration and a larger number of roles than the other works. As a huge opera, its performance will, as we believe, once again become a remarkable cultural event.”

The successful first four productions, especially Tristan und Isolde, have accumulated the NCPA with enough experiences and confidence. The NCPA has made adequate preparations for the staging of the "Meistersinger". The China NCPA Chorus stopped preparing for other concerts to rehearse for this opera since April. The China NCPA Orchestra has accumulated plentiful performing experiences when playing the first four operas by Wagne. Artistic Director of Music of the NCPA LÜ Jia will stand with his baton and spare no efforts to present the melodious opera music with its complex structure.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a co-production of the NCPA, Royal Opera House, Convent Garden and Opera Australia. Since 2009, the NCPA has worked on co-productions with many world-class opera houses, such as the Mariinsky Theatre, Metropolitan Opera and Wiener Staatsoper, promoting the exchange and fusion of Eastern and Western opera cultures, showing Chinese audiences diverse styles of global operas.

In 2015, the NCPA established cooperation with the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden for the first time and staged Umberto Giordano’s opera Andrea Chenier. Three years later, the two art institutions cooperated again and presented Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on stage. Famous Danish stage director Kasper Holten makes classical and modern elements collide and fuse with each other on stage, setting a bridge between the 16^th Century, when the story took place and the contemporary era.

The ultra-long duration, nearly five hours and a half long, and a number of very hard-to-sing arias make harsh demands on singers. Bass-baritone Johan Reuter, counted among the most popular singers on the world opera stage, has played almost all the classic baritone roles created by Wagner. This time, he will play the male lead Hans Sachs. American lyric soprano Amanda Majeski will play the female lead Eva Pogner. She frequently played this role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Glyndebourne Festival. Baritone Jochen Kupfer will play Beckmesser. He played this role at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, Germany. German tenor Daniel Kirch will play Stolzing. As an experienced Wagner tenor, he has played classic tenor roles by Wagner, such as Tristan, Lohengrin and Siegfried, for many times before.