Nuremberg Life and Afterlife: Roland Matthews is concerned that David McVicar’s Glyndebourne production of ‘Meistersinger’ fails to take account of its legacy

Glyndebourne’s first-ever staging of Die Meistersinger for the 2011 festival has been faithfully captured in this two-disc set. It is a fitting record of a landmark event in the history of the Sussex house. There can be no denying the ambition of the undertaking and Glyndebourne can take justifiable pleasure in its achievement; yet there is a fine line between pride and smugness. When in the brief commentary (included as an extra) director David McVicar describes the company as having ‘bonded in our own little Nuremberg community’ it suggests a spirit of self-congratulation which not only exemplifies the inward-looking world of the mastersingers but also turns the spotlight on the work’s troubled 150-year history.