Meistersinger Leipzig 1938

Josef von Manowarda as Hans Sachs

Here we have most of act two of Die Meistersinger, broadcast live from Leipzip and relayed via shortwave to the USA where it was heard on WEAF New York between 2 and 3pm. It's a rare chance to hear Austrian bass Josef von Manowarda (1890-1942) in an extended recording. Other surviving examples of his art tend to be fragmentary, such as various 1933 performances recorded in Vienna (issued as part of the Koch Swan series), and some pre-war Bayreuth extracts. The only complete role of his that survives, so far as I know, is Sarastro in Die Zauberflote from a 1937 Stuttgart radio broadcast.
The cast of this Meistersinger was a very good one for the time. Frantz was a noted Wagnerian and would go on to be a noted Sachs himself as well as a famous Wotan. Max Lorenz was the leading European heldentenor during the 1930s, dominating particularly at Bayreuth. Margarethe Teschemacher was a leading soprano in Germany during the 1930s and created the role of Daphne for Richard Strauss.
The sound is actually not bad for a shortwave transmission, and some commentary is retained. Particularly interesting is the German announcer sending greetings to America at a time when Germany had recently annexed Austria and was moving against Czechoslovakia.


Richard Wagner
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Act II
Reichssender Leipzig - 22 May 1938

Hans Sachs - Josef von Manowarda
Veit Pogner - Ferdinand Frantz
Sixtus Beckmesser - Gerhard Hofmann
Walther von Stolzing - Max Lorenz
Eva Pogner - Margarethe Teschemacher
David - Paul Reinecke
Magdalene - Martha Rohs

Chor und Orchester des Reichssenders Leipzig
Cond. Hans Weisbach

https://rapidshare.com/files/1909013092/Meistersinger_Leipzig_1938_Act_2.mp3