“Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is a problematic opera—or, rather, it is an  opera that has, in the last century or so, become problematic. Its composer,  Richard Wagner, was a profound artist who insisted in treating on profound  themes: Life, Death, Love, Redemption and so forth. In this opera, though, his  focus shifted to different universalities: Art and (here comes the troubling  part) what you might call ‘German-ness’.” [New York Observer] (Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera)