Victoria Sladen (soprano)
Marjorie Thomas (contralto)
Murray Dickie (tenor) James Johnston (tenor)
Tom Williams (bass-baritone)
London Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, George Stratton ) Conductor, Basil Cameron
Wagner Concert
Song of the Rhinedaughters (The
Twilight of the Gods)
(Rhinedaughters: Marjorie Avis. Betty Hutchings , Kathleen Kay )
7.58 app. Excerpts from Act 3 (The
Mastersingers): Prelude
Sachs and David-Sachs' Monologue
(Scene 1)
Sachs and Walter (Scene 2)
Sachs and Eva-The Quintet (Scene
4)
8.49 app. The Ride of the Valkyries
(The Valkyrie)
From the Royal Albert Hall. London
In their song at the beginning of Act 3 of The Twilight of the Gods, the three Rhinedaughters, swimming in the river, lament the loss of the gold that was once theirs. How brightly it used to shine in the waterl Where is the hero who will restore it to them? As if in answer to
. their cry, Siegfried's hom is heard, and when he himself appears and refuses to yield up the treasure, they warn hiir of the hard fate in store for him.
The mellow wisdom and dignity of Hans Sachs are suggested in the quiet Prelude to Act 3 of The Mastersingers. It leads into the first scene, in which David, his apprentice, finds him reading in his workshop. David apologises for having taken part in the street brawl of the previous night, when he set upon Beckmesser for serenading his beloved Magdalene. He reminds Sachs that it is St. John's Day, his own name-day; Hans being the German for John (as David explains in a brisk ballad). Sachs' famous monologue follows; in it he reflects on the madness and folly of the world. But Midsummer Day has dawned, he tells himself; may that same madness, that ardour, now be transformed and used for noble ends. And when Walter enters and tells him of a wonderful dream he has had, Sachs. the sympathetic friend and master, gives him advice and encouragement as he sings the first two verses of his dream-song. When Eva comes in (to have her shoes attended to by Sachs I), Walter, transported with delight, sings the third verse; and in the Quintet at the end of the Act the three characters are joined by Magdalene and David, each one expressing his or her hopes for !he coming estival. Harold Rutland