Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, by Richard Wagner

Opera in three acts
Lyrics by the composer
in German with German and English surtitles

Acclaimed and hotly debated: Elisabeth Stöppler stages Die Meistersinger as a German Midsummer Night’s nightmare by Hans Sachs and Richard Wagner. The ambivalences of what is perhaps Wagner’s most complex score are not glossed over in favor of comedy, but are preserved and made tangible: “Art that reveals – not by instructing, but by sharpening perception” (FAZ). In this moving and impressive exploration, Wagner’s art opera becomes a reflection on the connection between popularity and populism.

#StgtMeistersinger

Location
Opernhaus

Duration
l. Act: approx. 1 h. 25 min
Interval: approx. 45 min
ll. Act: spprox. 1 h
Interval: approx. 35 min
lll. Act: 2 h

World premiere
1868 in Munich

Premiere of this production
February 2, 2026

Recommended age
from grade 10

There will be a German introduction 45 minutes before the performance at the Upper Foyer (I. Rang).

Advance ticket sales for all announced performances of the 2026/27 season begin on July 13, 2026, at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available online, at the box office, and by phone at +49 711 20 20 90 starting at that time.

Feb 2026

Sat

16:00 – 21:30
Opernhaus

Premiere

Cast

Sun

16:00 – 22:00
Opernhaus

Cast

Mar 2026

Sun

16:00 – 22:00
Opernhaus

Cast

Sun

16:00 – 22:00
Opernhaus

Cast

Sat

16:00 – 22:00
Opernhaus

Cast

Sun

16:00 – 22:00
Opernhaus

For the last time this season

Cast

In short

What’s it about?
It’s about Hans Sachs, the shoemaker-poet, who, as one of 12 master singers, gradually moves into the spotlight until he finally becomes the king of art. It’s about a singing competition in which the prize is not a trophy, but the daughter of the richest man in Nuremberg, and in which not everyone plays by the rules and with fair means.
It’s about the question of how the new enters art/the world – and about the fact that the new can sometimes also be the old. It's about the connection between art and society and the interplay between popularity and populism. It's about writing, it's about beauty, it's about overwhelming power, and it’s – of course – about Richard Wagner.

Let’s begin!
Starting over and over again. Always a blank slate. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg actually tell of a new beginning, of the possibilities of a society that sets its own rules. Of constructing the future. A beginning in radiant C major: hopeful, festive, rousing.

It’s not just about art
Richard Wagner conceived the plan for Die Meistersinger immediately after completing Tannhäuser in 1845. He wanted to transform the central “singers„ contest at Wartburg Castle“ into a cheerful satyr play, and accordingly drafted the plot as a “comic opera“. In a further phase of work in the early 1860s, the focus shifted from the comic plot to Hans Sachs, whom Wagner made into a man who renounced love. Biographical events such as the abrupt end of his liaison with Mathilde Wesendonck and, not least, his engagement with the rather pessimistic philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer were reflected in this. The “comic opera“ became a “grand comic opera“, and the light-hearted interlude became one of Wagner’s major works, perhaps even ’the’ German opera – with everything that goes with it. Die Meistersinger, which premiered in 1868, lost its classification as a comedy in the final phase of work and is now simply referred to as an “opera in three acts“. As always with Wagner, traces of all stages of the work can be found, making Die Meistersinger and its characters as complex as they are ambivalent, not least because so many things are at stake at the same time.

„Der Flieder war’s: – Johannisnacht“
On St. John’s Eve (“Johnannisnacht“), the pagan celebration of the summer solstice combines with the Christian feast in honor of John the Baptist to form a kind of “summer Christmas“. For a long time, it was considered a moment of transition. Similar traditions can be found in the Swedish Midsommar, but also in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play deals with a phase of transgression in which the human and the supernatural, the rational and the desirous, intertwine in a peculiar way. Among other things, Zettel, the weaver, is given a donkey’s head by the magic of the goblin Puck and, in this form, loses himself to the fairy queen Titania. Shakespeare’s crackling, if somewhat offbeat, eroticism in the forest near Athens is contrasted in Wagner with a mass brawl in Nuremberg. “A goblin must have helped...“ muses Hans Sachs, looking at the outbreak of violence and thus drawing a parallel to William Shakespeare. Thus, Die Meistersinger is, in a sense, the German counterpart to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: a midsummer night’s brawl. Or rather, a German midsummer night’s nightmare by Hans Sachs and Richard Wagner.

No Kings! – No Kings?
Die Meistersinger ends in the same C major key in which it begins. And there is also a close connection between the beginning and the end in terms of the text. After the prelude, the piece begins with a chorale in honor of John the Baptist: “Da zu Dir der Heiland kam“ (When the Savior came to you). It ends with the cries of “Heil Sachs! Nürnbergs teurem Sachs!” (Hail Sachs! Nuremberg’s dear Sachs!) The salvation connects the Savior, the carpenter Jesus of Nazareth, with the cobbler Hans Sachs, who is honored like a king. In between, David, Sachs’ apprentice, clearly points out “that he who was called John on the banks of the Jordan was called Hans on the Pegnitz.“ Hans Sachs is thus first and foremost, as a parallel figure to John the Baptist, the preparer of the Savior. In the end, however, he takes center stage thanks to a small change in which Walther von Stolzing, who has long been the focus of attention, suddenly becomes a minor character. The popular master singer becomes a puppet master and populist. And the play, which begins with the Protestant community and a quasi-democratic structure, does a backflip and crowns itself a king.

Synopsis

Act One
Hans Sachs is a shoemaker and passionate poet. Eva Pogner shares his love for writing and literature. The Nuremberg Guild of Master Singers is a society of master craftsmen devoted to the writing, composition and performance of musical works whilst adhering to a strict set of long-established rules. Eva’s father, goldsmith Veit Pogner, feels such a strong obligation towards said guild that he is committed to offering his only daughter Eva’s hand to the winner of the master singers’ singing contest taking place the following day, St John’s Day. While she would be permitted to refuse marriage to the victor, she would then have to remain unmarried.

Eva meets impoverished aristocrat Walther von Stolzing, who has sold all his possessions to Eva’s father and is in town to conclude the transaction. They fall in love. When Walther hears about the contest from Eva’s friend Madgalene, he realises that Eva can be his if he sings. Magdalene arranges for David, Sachs’s apprentice and her sweetheart, to tutor Walther in the art of master singing. More disconcerted than well-rehearsed, Walther sings in front of the gathered master singers – and flounders. Sixtus Beckmesser, in particular, who holds the office of ’Marker’, disapproves of Walther’s performance. This is in no small part because he supposes his expert knowledge of the rules will considerably increase his chances of winning the forthcoming singing contest for Eva’s hand. On the other hand, despite the rule-breaking, Hans Sachs enjoys Walther’s performance.

Act Two
Following his disastrous performance, Walther sees no other option but to run away with Eva. In a conversation with Hans Sachs, Eva reveals her affections for Walther. Sachs learns of the intended elopement and decides to foil the plan.

Meanwhile, Sixtus Beckmesser stands beneath Eva’s window at night and serenades her to see how she likes his singing. Sachs’s loud cobbling and singing frustrate his attempts. They finally agree that Sachs, instead of singing, will take on the role of Marker during Beckmesser’s nightly serenade. He will strike his cobbler’s last to indicate mistakes while continuing to work on Beckmesser’s shoes, which are in need of repair.

Disguised as Eva, Magdalene listens to Beckmesser singing. Though Sachs assiduously marks down errors, this does not dampen Beckmesser’s enthusiasm. As the neighbours are drawn towards the sound of singing the tension heightens. David is unaware of the women’s plan regarding the disguise and believes Beckmesser seeks to woo Magdalene. Seething with jealous rage he attacks his apparent rival. The fight escalates into a mass brawl. At its climax, Sachs drags Walther into his workshop and sends Eva home.

Act Three
The morning after the St John’s Eve violence Sachs is lost in thought. David rouses him from his contemplation and reminds him that today is his name day. Memory fragments merge in Sach’s mind as he reflects on the delusion which permeates the history of humankind. Making sense of this delusion becomes Sachs’s driving force. He and Walther rework Walther’s song, adding images from Walther’s dream from the previous night to craft a new master song.

Looking for his shoes in the empty workshop, Beckmesser stumbles across Sachs’s song lyric notes. Convinced that he must have found Sachs’s singing contest entry, he accuses the shoemaker on his return of secretly planning to enter the contest. Sachs denies this and hands Beckmesser his notes.

Under a pretext, Eva visits Sachs who, together with Walther, presents his masterpiece. Eva tells Sachs she is in love with him. Sachs promotes David to assistant shoemaker and christens his master song with the title ’Blessed Morning Dream Interpretation’ in the presence of Eva, Magdalene, David and Walther.

The people of Nuremberg gather in the park. The singing contest begins with Beckmesser, who performs a song based on Sachs’s notes which is received with laughter and derision. He protests that Sachs is the creator and owner of the song, though Sachs denies the allegation, calling Walther as a witness who sings another version of the ’Blessed Morning Dream Interpretation’. The crowd responds with rapturous applause. Eva crowns the victor. When Walther declines to be received into the Guild of Master Singers, Sachs affirms the superiority of ’hallowed German art’.

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Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg