I was disappointed to read recently that the Seattle Opera has canceled its plans to present Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in August 2014.
This news isn't particularly surprising, given the state of arts organizations here and around the world these days. What makes this cancellation particularly sad is that this production was intended as a farewell to Seattle Opera's renowned general director Speight Jenkins upon his retirement.
Seattle already had a reputation for performing Wagner, especially The Ring of the Nibelung, before Speight came along in 1983, and he has turned the company into perhaps the top U.S. venue for Wagner's music-dramas outside of New York, as well as one of the country's leading regional opera companies.
And on top of that, he's a native of Dallas. His distinctive East Texas accent belies the fact that he's one of the most knowledgeable people around on Wagner's operas and how to go about producing them.
What better way to mark Speight's departure than with Wagner's most light-hearted opera, whose hero is the wise and avuncular Hans Sachs? Problem is, Meistersinger requires casting 17 good opera singers -- yes, 17, all but two of them men -- and a big chorus, and is the longest single opera around today. All that makes Meistersinger very expensive to produce, which put it out of reach for the now-struggling Seattle Opera, which is going ahead with its even more expensive but highly acclaimed Ring next summer.
Replacing Meistersinger on the Seattle Opera schedule for August 2014 will be the International Wagner Competition, which Seattle Opera has produced for several years, intended to showcase young and emerging Wagnerian singers. Perhaps that's as fitting a finale for Speight, given his long-standing reputation for finding and championing good young singers.
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