Last night I was listening again to the Solti Meistersinger, and suddenly
it struck me that I have heard this kind of music before, and it's in the
Covent Garden scene of My Fair Lady.  Either Wagner anticipates the kind of
birdsong-like gentle musical pointillism that sets off the vocal exchanges
and banter between the principals in Lerner & Lowe's My Fair Lady, or the
composer of the latter team (Lerner, I presume) has thoroughly assimilated
Wagner's way with this kind of musical dialogue.

Incidentally, a lot of the dialogue in Die Meistersinger is very quick
and natural-sounding, not the lenthy declamations that one finds in the
Ring.  I suppose one has to go to Weber to find this kind of perfect
musical dialogue.  I can hardly gush enough about how beautifully it is
executed.  Further, the soprano (Mattila) has a charming way of alternating
almost-spoken lines (no vibrato, almost a gentle cooing) with sung lines,
(light, flexible vibrato) that is very endearing.

Is there anyone who "hears" Lerner & Lowe in Meistersinger (or
Meistersinger in Lerner & Lowe)? Incidentally, which one was the composer,
Lerner or Lowe?

Dr. S. de Silva <[log in to unmask]>
Lycoming College, Williamsport PA