Following this advice from Act III of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, I would like to propose the following “rule”: to portray as uncomplicatedly and clearly as possible the thoughts, feelings, observations, and experiences of a conductor in his work with Wagner's Meistersinger before and during a performance of the work. The feelings that dominate one right before the performance can, in my opinion, be no better described and compared than with those of a mountain climber who, standing at the foot of one of the Himalayan peaks, sets out on his climb. A great deal of preparation is necessary to get to this moment, whether in planning the route (knowledge of the work), organization of the team (rehearsals with all the participants), and, last but not least, being mentally and physically fit so that one can endure such a challenge. It is a long way to the summit, perhaps the longest in the entire operatic landscape, often very arduous but, at least in the case of Die Meistersinger, adorned by the most beautiful wonders of music, which compensate amply for the difficulties that must be overcome.

The Prelude

Already at the beginning of the prelude, Richard Wagner shows us that he is a composer who does not follow well-worn paths. Upon hearing the first measure, one might think of a rather pompous march played by all the members of the orchestra, and carried by a majestically triumphant melody. But it strikes one immediately that the instruments that classically convey melody, the violins, pause in the first measure and yield first place to their colleagues in the wind section, only to take charge with even more vigor from the second measure onwards (see example 1.1).

One could conceivably write this off as a small delicacy of instrumentation, were this detail not an indication of a pattern that persists throughout the entire four hours of music: the particularity of the first intervallic leap of a fourth in the trumpets, oboes, and clarinets, as shown in example 1.2.

It becomes evident as the work unfolds that this interval of a fourth is the most important compositional building block for the vast majority of the motifs in the work.