Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg is the only comedy among Richard Wagner s mature works. Unusually for Wagner, it is set in a historically specific time and place, sixteenthcentury Nuremberg, and tells of a song contest among the town s guildsmen. It nevertheless explores the same themes of renewal, renunciation and human love as Wagner s other great music dramas. The finely drawn humanity of its principal characters and the brilliance of its musical invention make it one of the most rewarding operas in the repertory.

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