Parsifal is Wagner's final opera, and one of my favourites of his. Mind you, it is not the most accessible of operas, it is very long and has many hidden meanings and symbols, having to really think hard and with the length is enough to exhaust a first-time viewer, a feeling I'm familiar with from my viewing of the 1983 film two years ago. But it is so worth the watch and listen, in my mind if I had to vote which Wagner opera had the most consistently beautiful music it's a tough choice but I give it to Parsifal.
I don't think I have seen a bad production of Parsifal. Even my least favourite, the 1983 film, had much to like about it. And this Parsifal is no exception. The most ambitious of the season, it completely succeeds on that front. Until now though, I'd never seen it live, and this production was well and truly a fascinating experience but at nearly 6 hours with interviews and previews- presented compellingly by Eric Owens- it was exhausting as well if to be honest. Ranking it with everything else seen in the season I put it second best after Maria Stuarda with Aida and L'Elsir D'Amore close behind.
Visually it was a very striking production. Not traditional and people will prefer a fairy-tale-like and mysterious approach, but never ugly, even the darkly lit and blood-filled Act 2. The sets are barren, almost post-apocalyptic, but the stunning video projections from the ones of the oily sea and planets in eclipse make them much more interesting than they seem. The costumes fit very well with the concept, the beginning with the chorus looking out to the audience in black and white was really quite haunting. The video directing is exceptional, showing great skill and intimacy with the singers while never relying too much on close-ups.
Not all the staging is perfect, but nothing is disastrous. People will argue that Wagner's instructions were very specific and will pick a bone with Kundry- almost in expiration ritual mode- with the Grail at the end rather than Parsifal. It made sense within the production concept I think, but within the story and Wagner's instructions I am not so sure. More I feel could have been done with the spear at the end of Act 2, it seemed anti-climatic and looked as if Klingsor had given up all that easily. And I really didn't like the presence of the bed, I understand that it was meant to symbolise Kundry's seduction, but it just looked so tacky and at odds with everything else. However, there are some really fine moments also. Act 1 has been criticised for being static and understandably, but the men's movements were so together and ritual-like and the Flower Maidens were utterly bewitching in look and in stylised movement. Klingsor handling the blood made for a chilling image while Amfortas in his father's grave was soul-destroying.
Musically, it is just extraordinary, and the sound allowed the booming resonance of the more dramatic moments to make a genuine impact. The orchestra play with a hauntingly beautiful sound in the prelude, while the Good Friday music has real pathos to it. The textures are beautifully balanced and elegantly phrased, and I just loved the use of the bells, a mix between church bells and death knells which was both triumphant and foreboding. The chorus are really exemplary, making the most of their movements and singing with clarity and vocal resonance. Their offstage singing was some of the best I've ever heard for Parsifal as well. Daniele Gatti's tempos are very slow, especially in Act 1, but that did give a tension and grandiose feel to the music and showed a conductor with a deep understanding of the score.
Jonas Kaufmann is terrific in the title role. The change from ignorant youth to literally broken man was utterly believable and really quite moving, and he does all this with intensity and subtlety. He sounds great as well, his tone is dark and chocolaty and in Act 3 like golden butter. And he is very musical also. Katarina Dalayman's voice is not particularly a beautiful one, with some rawness in the high middle register though her lower register is firm and well projected and she does hit some solid high Bs. She also suffers from almost unintelligible German diction. Her Kundry though dramatically is sympathetic, wild and above all human. Evgeny Nitikin's Klingsor is menacing in his anger and madness. He doesn't have the most attractive of voices either, rather snarly and nasal, but that actually is not unsuited to the character. He would make a good Alberich I feel.
Peter Mattei was a superb Amfortas, his performance not just equalling his DVD competitors but even surpassing(Bernd Weikl for the Met comes close). He offers some of the most beautiful singing of anybody in the role, phrasing and tone wise, and he genuinely looks as though he is in pain and anguish right from the shaking limbs to the desperate attempts to make himself comfortable. Kudos to the men who spent the whole time doing their best to hold him up even in extreme and I imagine painful positions. The best performance was from Rene Pape, and I feel the same about his Gurnemanz as I do about Mattei's Amfortas. His voice is rich and warm, always attractive whether high or low, and the phrases just spin out like silk. His interpretation is touchingly subtle, noble and quite poetic. Rúni Brattaberg is eerie-sounding and well projected, if not quite reptile-like in the small role of Titurel.
Overall, ambitious, moving, visually striking and musically extraordinary with truly fine performances all round, I can't recommend this Parsifal enough, even with the three staging problems I had. 9/10 Bethany Cox
I don't think I have seen a bad production of Parsifal. Even my least favourite, the 1983 film, had much to like about it. And this Parsifal is no exception. The most ambitious of the season, it completely succeeds on that front. Until now though, I'd never seen it live, and this production was well and truly a fascinating experience but at nearly 6 hours with interviews and previews- presented compellingly by Eric Owens- it was exhausting as well if to be honest. Ranking it with everything else seen in the season I put it second best after Maria Stuarda with Aida and L'Elsir D'Amore close behind.
Visually it was a very striking production. Not traditional and people will prefer a fairy-tale-like and mysterious approach, but never ugly, even the darkly lit and blood-filled Act 2. The sets are barren, almost post-apocalyptic, but the stunning video projections from the ones of the oily sea and planets in eclipse make them much more interesting than they seem. The costumes fit very well with the concept, the beginning with the chorus looking out to the audience in black and white was really quite haunting. The video directing is exceptional, showing great skill and intimacy with the singers while never relying too much on close-ups.
Not all the staging is perfect, but nothing is disastrous. People will argue that Wagner's instructions were very specific and will pick a bone with Kundry- almost in expiration ritual mode- with the Grail at the end rather than Parsifal. It made sense within the production concept I think, but within the story and Wagner's instructions I am not so sure. More I feel could have been done with the spear at the end of Act 2, it seemed anti-climatic and looked as if Klingsor had given up all that easily. And I really didn't like the presence of the bed, I understand that it was meant to symbolise Kundry's seduction, but it just looked so tacky and at odds with everything else. However, there are some really fine moments also. Act 1 has been criticised for being static and understandably, but the men's movements were so together and ritual-like and the Flower Maidens were utterly bewitching in look and in stylised movement. Klingsor handling the blood made for a chilling image while Amfortas in his father's grave was soul-destroying.
Musically, it is just extraordinary, and the sound allowed the booming resonance of the more dramatic moments to make a genuine impact. The orchestra play with a hauntingly beautiful sound in the prelude, while the Good Friday music has real pathos to it. The textures are beautifully balanced and elegantly phrased, and I just loved the use of the bells, a mix between church bells and death knells which was both triumphant and foreboding. The chorus are really exemplary, making the most of their movements and singing with clarity and vocal resonance. Their offstage singing was some of the best I've ever heard for Parsifal as well. Daniele Gatti's tempos are very slow, especially in Act 1, but that did give a tension and grandiose feel to the music and showed a conductor with a deep understanding of the score.
Jonas Kaufmann is terrific in the title role. The change from ignorant youth to literally broken man was utterly believable and really quite moving, and he does all this with intensity and subtlety. He sounds great as well, his tone is dark and chocolaty and in Act 3 like golden butter. And he is very musical also. Katarina Dalayman's voice is not particularly a beautiful one, with some rawness in the high middle register though her lower register is firm and well projected and she does hit some solid high Bs. She also suffers from almost unintelligible German diction. Her Kundry though dramatically is sympathetic, wild and above all human. Evgeny Nitikin's Klingsor is menacing in his anger and madness. He doesn't have the most attractive of voices either, rather snarly and nasal, but that actually is not unsuited to the character. He would make a good Alberich I feel.
Peter Mattei was a superb Amfortas, his performance not just equalling his DVD competitors but even surpassing(Bernd Weikl for the Met comes close). He offers some of the most beautiful singing of anybody in the role, phrasing and tone wise, and he genuinely looks as though he is in pain and anguish right from the shaking limbs to the desperate attempts to make himself comfortable. Kudos to the men who spent the whole time doing their best to hold him up even in extreme and I imagine painful positions. The best performance was from Rene Pape, and I feel the same about his Gurnemanz as I do about Mattei's Amfortas. His voice is rich and warm, always attractive whether high or low, and the phrases just spin out like silk. His interpretation is touchingly subtle, noble and quite poetic. Rúni Brattaberg is eerie-sounding and well projected, if not quite reptile-like in the small role of Titurel.
Overall, ambitious, moving, visually striking and musically extraordinary with truly fine performances all round, I can't recommend this Parsifal enough, even with the three staging problems I had. 9/10 Bethany Cox
