Two Schools of Mastersong: Arnold Whittall contemplates two live London recordings of Wagner’s epic comedy

For Wagnerians of a certain age the years around 1970 were a special time, particularly where Die Meistersinger is concerned. The musically revelatory Sadler’s Wells production of The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, first heard in the Rosebery Avenue theatre in January 1968, reappeared in due course in the more expansive space of English National Opera’s London Coliseum. Then, in 1971, came the release of the five LPs of Herbert von Karajan’s superlative German-language studio recording. Yet, while Karajan’s interpretation has retained its (for many) pre-eminent place among recorded versions ever since, Reginald Goodall’s account was rather eclipsed by such later triumphs of his as the ‘English’ Ring and the Welsh National Opera Tristan, which were released on LP and widely admired.