I want to add my name to the list who enjoy this performance of Meistersinger. I highly recommend this recording: the sound is excellent and the performances very musical. I enjoyed Janis Martin as Eva and Cox was a fine Walter in this performance. (I did not like his performance with Hollreiser). Bailey was fine as Sachs but he is no Paul Schoffler. I was not familiar with Hans Wallat but he lead a very spirited and enjoyable reading of the score. This is a nice alternative to the many versions by big name conductors. Don't be afraid to go for it.

An excellent Meistersinger, lively conducted by Hans Wallat. Sound is stereo and generally very good. Singing very fine, except for a slightly disappointing Beckmesser. Bailey a wonderful Sachs, having recently sung the role under Goodall at ENO. Well worth a listen.

Norman Bailey is excellent as Sachs, singing with authority in his unique, dark timbred voice with its heavy vibrato. The ladies are equally fine, especially Janis Martin's surprisingly youthful sounding Eva. Cox is a known quantity, not the best Walther out there but more than adequate. Hermin Esser's David is more heroic sounding than one usually hears in this role (I wonder if he ever sang Walther?). The real surprise of this performance though is the fantastic conducting of Hans Wallat who manages somehow to bring out elements in this score that I've never noticed before. His pacing is also just about perfect with no peculiar tempo choices that a lot of otherwise great conductors have imposed on the score (Knappertsbusch, Boehm). Bravo maestro!The sound quality of this Bayreuth performance is quiet good overall but there are several episodes of tape overload and distortion which will bother some people more than others. I found that importing the tracks into my Audacity software, applying the Clip Fix editing feature, and then reducing the amplitude between 2-6 db significantly reduced these problems, making for a much improved listening experience.

I ordered this set purely because of Norman Bailey but I wasn't expecting such a wonderful performance as this. Hans Wallat, a conductor I had never come across before, gives an excellent account of the score. Everything feels just "right" and the sound is fabulous, just like sitting in the front row of the stalls in the "Festspielhaus" (I imagine). Janis Martin is a beautiful Eva; Jean Cox a youthful sounding Walther; and Norman Bailey a noble, warm hearted Sachs. Thomas Hemsley plays Beckmesser "straight" - no funny voices or comedy slapstick - and is very effective. His scene in Act 3 with Sachs plays entirely off the words and is all the more amusing for it. The orchestra is magnificent. There is some radio interference from other broadcasting channels in a few brief places, but that hardly matters when the performance is as good as this one. And a big bonus for me was that Act 1 fits complete on the first CD! Many thanks. I'm looking forward to listening to the 1970 Ring now...

Very enjoyable performance from Bayreuth with a fine cast, headed by Norman Bailey, who sings beautifully and creates a very sympathetic Sachs.

A quite lively, captivating performance with an invincible fleet of legendary quality singers under the direction of a Wagner expert conductor. It could be said that a good, typical example of the golden days of the 1960s-70s in Bayreuth. Moreover, fortunately this recording has even pretty good comfortable stereo sounds.In my opinion, Hans Wallat's talent as a Wagnerian should be regarded more highly. Every his recordings available at Opera Depot are splendid. I love his unfaltering eloquence almost as much as an outstanding musical phrasing of Horst Stein. It's a great pity that Wallat was not given the opportunities to conduct in the Bayreuth's pit except for Meistersinger 1970 and Dutchman 1971 after all.

Excellent performance. Jean Cox is amazing.