Richard Wagner's operas are hardly metaphors for fast food, but when it comes to the "ultra grande" menu nothing competes with his 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.' There might be no calories or saturated fats, but mounting a production of 'Meistersinger' can put a company at risk for cardiac arrest ... which it nearly did for Cincinnnati Opera.  

Speight Jenkins will be the first to tell you that there's grand opera and then there are Richard Wagner's operas, those massive, sprawling epics populated by feuding gods, warrior women sporting winged helmets, knights of the Grail and sexually frustrated lovers. These "integrated works of art," as Wagner called them, are the ultimate challenge for any opera company, demanding forces that could populate a small town.