Tailor, cobbler, and baker

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These are not characters in the title of a John LaCarré spy novel, but rather members of the chorus in Richard Wagner’s opera Meistersinger. The Liederkranz, of which William Steinway was then president, had been rehearsing a selection from the opera.

In Act III, Scene 5 of the Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner, the chorus, composed of cobblers, tailors, bakers [Schneider, Schuster, Bäcker], apprentices and other guild members sings "Sankt Krispin, lobet ihn."(2) The Liederkranz mixed chorus had been rehearsing this piece and performed it on April 15, 1883, with Hattie Louise Simms, Fanny Hirsch, Jacob Graff, Charles F. Tretbar, Max Heinrich, and Oscar Steins as soloists.(1)(Diary, 1883-04-21) About a year later, the chorus was again performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 3, 1884 (3) and April 29 (Diary, 1884-04-24)(Diary, 1884-04-29).

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Sources: 

1. Mosenthal, Hermann. History of the New York Liederkranz, 1847-1897. vol. 1 p. 42.

2. Meistersinger by Richard Wagner. Compact Disk. Tract 11. Sankt Krispin, lobet ihn! (singers = Schuster/Schneider/Bäcker/Lehrbuben = Shoemakers, Taylors, Bakers, Apprentices). Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1992 Digital Remaster), DRITTER AKT/ACT 3/TROISIEME SCENE, Fünfte Szene/Scene 5/Cinquième S.

3. The New Yorker Staats-zeitung , March 16, 1884, p. 4.