As Anthony Tommasini reported in The New York Times (3 Dec 14) when he reviewed the last revival of Otto Schenk’s production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1993) at the Metropolitan Opera, Michael Volle sang two performances as Hans Sachs while James Morris sang the remaining five. (Morris and Volle were engaged to replace Johan Reuter, long scheduled to add Sachs to his repertoire, when he announced he would not add the role.) Volle had made his debut at the Met last season in Arabella.
The second of Volle’s performances was the Live in HD transmission on December 13 that Tommasini praised in the Times: “Mr. Volle sang the second of his scheduled appearances as Sachs and showed audiences around the world why he had become so sought-after” (14 Dec 14).
I attended the HD transmission, and before it began, on one of the screens “about the cast” the Met told me that Michael Volle would sing Wotan “in several years” at the Met. This information is red meat for Ring Nuts who plan travel schedules as far in advance as opera houses plan seasons.
Operabase reports that Mr. Volle will sing all three Wotans in Vienna under Simon Rattle in May-June, 2015. Presumably the Wotans at the Met would be in a revival of the Robert Lepage production with “the machine.” Again, this is red meat for Ring Nuts.