An interesting difference of opinion (From The Oxford Times)

An interesting difference of opinion

3:07pm Wednesday 28th July 2010 in

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Still with the Proms, I was intrigued to note an interesting difference of critical opinion over the approach of Bryn Terfel (right) to his role of Hans Sachs in Welsh National Opera’s performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

For David Mellor, writing in the Mail On Sunday: “He coasted a bit through Act One to preserve his vocal power.”

Over at The Spectator, meanwhile, the vastly well-informed Michael Tanner was telling readers: “No other Sachs I have heard has dared to sing with such authority in Act One, yet by being so imposing at such an early stage, Terfel made clear Sachs’s position, and gave a different shape thereby to the whole unfolding drama.”

If nothing else, this disagreement appears to contradict the argument of Leonard Cohen in the title of his song One of Us Cannot Be Wrong.