Parsifal

Richard Wagner's Parsifal is a work of supreme brilliance, the final work of a musical genius, the summation of his thoughts on what it means to be a human and to suffer. The challenges in how to present a work that is far from conventional and difficult to stage as a traditional opera makes it difficult however to pin it down to any one meaning. It's perhaps unreasonable then to expect anyone to have anything new to add to what is inherently great in itself, just that the work be allowed to weave its magic. As such, it's hard to find any fault with the Royal Opera House's 2013 production of Parsifal, but inevitably some parts fare better than others.Knights of the Grail are there in name only in Stephen Landridge's abstract-modern production, all of them wearing immaculate grey suits rather than suits of armour. The staging is a little bit cold and clinical in this respect, Alison Chitty's symmetrical geometric stage design dominated by a large cube that serves principally as a hospital room for the bed where Amfortas was being looked after by concerned doctors. The use of lights and sometimes projections however also use the cube to reveal backstory elements in flash-frames and live-action slow motion. Nothing should overwhelm the senses more than the music or the expression in the singing in Parsifal, and every element here seemed well-judged to suggest and engage the audience rather than over-emphasise or impose a false reading.Landridge's production continually engages with imagery that relates very closely to the original stage directions, but with a distinct twist that makes you re-examine what it all means. Most striking (and controversial) of all is the image of the Grail itself. There might be an inward rolling of the eyes when the cube opens up at the behest of the knights to reveal that the Grail is actually a child wearing nothing but a loin cloth, but the sense of a sacrificial act and the question of blood - both so vital to the underlying message of Parsifal - as well as the sheer pain of Amfortas's role as the keeper of the Grail, is unquestionably intensified when the ritual involves the actual cutting of the child and spilling his blood for the faithful. Such touches don't perhaps reveal any new vision for the work, but they certainly find a thought-provoking way to touch on the philosophical mysteries and the religious significance of the work without having to rely on over-used Christian imagery that has become detached from its original significance and meaning.In terms of singing, Angela Denoke is extraordinary as Kundry. Kundry is evidently no ordinary woman but something mythical and superhuman, so it's a bit much to expect anyone to really embody this character to the extent that Wagner developed her but... well, there you go, Denoke is something of a phenomenon here. Pitch-perfect maybe not, but it's such a strong and committed performance, from a vital central role, that it anchors all the others - not that they aren't spectacular in their own right. Simon O'Neill might not quite have the character or the acting ability to lift Parsifal up to a similar level, but you can't really find any serious fault his singing or his unstinting commitment here. He holds firm and steady throughout, but finds near-impossible reserves to keep up a consistent level of performance across the almost four hours that the role of Parsifal calls for.You know that you can rely on that level of professionalism and consistency from René Pape as Gurnemanz. he's particularly good in the third act as a shuffling near-broken knight who finds his long suffering and his faith have been rewarded. It's all there in those finely sung lines and Pape delivers them with self-contained dignity. Gerald Finley feels the pain as Amfortas, director Stephen Landridge working with this aspect of the work as the driving force for the stage conceptualisation. Finley's singing is as smooth, precise and as measured as his Hans Sachs for Glyndebourne, but perhaps just a little too calculated. The Royal Opera House's production is led from the pit by Antonio Pappano with attention to detail and with genuine feeling for the work's Good Friday message, ensuring that it touches upon and brings together every aspect of the transcendent beauty of Wagner's great masterpiece.On Blu-ray, the clinical qualities of the production design are perhaps over-emphasised. The image quality in the High Definition transfer is however impressive, and it benefits considerably from the DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 mix that warmly expresses the detail and the beauty of the orchestral playing. The BD is a two-disc set, with Act I and II on disc one, and Act III on disc two. There are only a few short features on the discs - a 6-minute Introduction to Parsifal that takes into account the production and the characters, and a five-minute piano run through of a scene from Act II between Simon O'Neill and Antonio Pappano. The booklet explains the significance and the intent of Alison Chitty and Stephen Landridge's production design, and there's a fascinating essay by Lucy Beckett on the writing of Parsifal, with reference to Wolfram von Eschenbach's 13th century text that serves as a basis of the libretto.

I saw the Kent Nagano- Baden Baden version on Sky Arts, and although enjoyable I felt that the staging was stark and unrealistic. Rather crude perhaps, I bought this as I thought it would have superior staging. I was wrong.There is absolutely nothing wrong with it musically, and excellent selection of voices, orchestra to voice balance very good, and two sound options. The picture clarity is first class.Perhaps the set designer should have read the synopsis, the wooded scene near a lake is translated as a boarded floor with panels hanging from the roof with an offset strangely angled cross also hanging from the roof.Klingors tower, a boarded floor with a bit of something different hanging in the background. The magic garden, a boarded floor (could it be the same one) and so on until the end, how imaginative, but it probably saved a fortune in sets.The key props are not a lot better, the holy Grail, having been retrieved from three promising containers is a rather large whisky tumbler. Klingsors magic mirror a chunk of broken mirrored glass. At least the spear after recovery looks OK.Costumes are mostly vaguely apt but monotonous, Kundry fares a little better, and her seduction scene is better clad if a bit evening dressy. Klingsors costume is somewhere between a loincloth and a nappy. When Parsifal appears in act three in full armour (see synopsis) it is replaced with a quilted dressing gown, the helmet disguising his face is a towel wrapped round his head. It fooled Gurnemanz and Kundry. When the flower maidens appear, some colour comes into our lives, they contrast nicely with the naked somethings with corpselike makeup who appear out the floor!One further nice touch is when the spear is thrown by Klingsor and suspends in the air before reaching Parsifal, the stage is completely blacked out, now that solves a technical problem.To sum up, this is better to listen to than to watch, but I shall close my eyes from time to time so that the visuals do not spoil the music.

Saw it in a live transmission from the ROH and just had to buy. Wonderful production.

Attended a performance at The Royal Opera House, very impressed with the entire cast and so pleased to have it on DVD

Brilliant production well done ROH

Diese Rezension bezieht sich auf die Parsifal Auffühung in Venedig 2005 mit Decker, Soffel, Hölle.Ich hatte diese Aufnahme auch auf CD gehört, da habe ich sie nicht so schlecht empfunden. Parsifal ist ein schwieriges Werk offenbar, zumeist wird er mit anderen Ideen verunstaltet und die Geschichte wird nicht erzählt. Hier wird gar nichts erzählt, jede konzertante Aufführung ist besser, die Aufnahmen des Chores wirken zum Teil lächerlich peinlich. Echt nicht gut.Decker ist rollendeckend, Soffel ist es definitiv nicht, wobei der 2. Akt gesanglich erträglicher ist als der erste. Die Darstellung ist in allen Akten furchtbar. Hölle ist kein Gurnemanz, selbst wenn er die Rolle unter Barenboim auf CD eingespielt hat. Ihm fehlte jedenfalls in Venedig alles, was man dafür benötigt. Schöne ist ein sehr guter Amfortas. Allerdings ist die Qualität der Aufnahme (Ton und Bild) echt nicht gut. Der Chor ist sehr dünn bestetzt. Bleibt das Dirigat, das ich als sehr kurzweilig empfunden habe. Der einzige positive Aspekt. Das ist zu wenig!