SATURDAY, August 8, 2020

1862: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Prelude (Overture)

This is yet another opera I could never sit through, but this prelude is amazing, and it is often called an overture. The exact difference between and overture and a prelude is pretty murky, although generally an overture starts at the very beginning. There can be a prelude before any act.

1862 Die Meistersinger, Act III, Tanz der Lehrbuben & Einzug der Meister

Why this is not called a prelude I do not know, but probably because it is not at the beginning of act III. If you think you have heard this before, you are mostly right. It’s the same music from the Prelude, but it’s arranged and structured a bit differently.

And another performance…

Here is yet another version of the first link above, often called the “Overture”. This one is faster, less measured, more energetic. I very much like this interpretation.