By all means, strange is not always a bad thing. But regarding Parsifal, if there is anything that the opera isn't it's strange. mystical yes, wondrous yes, symbolic yes, mysterious yes, exhausting sometimes depending on the production, emotionally powerful yes. But strange? To this viewer, not really. Parsifal, one of Wagner's best if not among his most accessible, is mostly well served on DVD, the 1993, 1992 and 1982 productions being the best. But this one fared the least, not a terrible production because it is fantastic musically but it was not very easy to get into and there were some ideas that were really perplexing. A definite highlight of the production was the conducting of Hartmut Haenchen, which was remarkably clear in a way that the storytelling here was not, and it was very sophisticated and musical. The orchestra play truly beautifully under him, there is a powerful rich sound and plenty of nuances, the Act 1 prelude and the Good Friday being particularly good. The chorus are excellent vocally and do do their best to emote although their stage direction is static.
Staging-wise the most inventive it gets is the idea of having Klingsor in a conductor kind of role that seems to be the puppeteer of the action and emotions of the characters and it comes off actually very well and the sexual chemistry between Parsifal and Kundry. The performances are also very good, the best being Thomas Johannes Mayer as a heart-breaking Amfortas, he looks too healthy for the role but vocally he is superb, providing the most beautiful and emotionally impactful singing of the production, and you really feel Amfortas' anguish. There are more evil Klingsors than Tomas Tomasson, but this is more a staging problem than him, but he is still menacing and imposing and his singing is very strong and suitable for the character. Anna Larsson is a Kundry that is sympathetic and wild, the dark velvety mezzo quality to her voice is more than up to the demands of the role and she has superb musicianship too. Andrew Richards sings sweetly and heroically and he does make some effort to show the journey from ignorant youth to the pained soul in the third act, but the stage direction doesn't help him all that much.
Was less taken by Jan-Hendrik Rootering, in a rare occurrence of the Gurnemanz being the weak link of the cast when usually he is one of the best and sometimes the highlight. Here he does sound tired and has control and intonation issues in the first act which doesn't do justice to the many sustained phrases that are among the finest of the entire score. He is a rather stolid actor too, the German Shepherd accompanying him managing to be more convincing dramatically. He does improve in the third act, where he sings with more polish and he is much more noble. But it was the visuals and staging where this Parsifal fell down, some may not find it a problem but it didn't appeal to me at all. The costumes don't fit within the setting with Parsifal looking far too much of a model and this manages to be throughout, and the sets are often too darkly lit and bare, only showing colour with Parsifal and Kundry in their big scene together in Act 2.
The staging is even more problematic, a few moments are inventively done but most of it is far from that. Act 1 is incredibly static, it's a long act and the less eventful parts are almost interminable, and Act 2 completely fizzles rather than sizzles due to the lack of tension and coherence. The presence of the python(who seems to be oblivious to everything the entire time) and nude flower girls do not add anything and while the Japanese bondage is more interesting you do question the point of it. And then there are omissions that make the story incomprehensible, the lack of the dead swan makes Gurnemanz's homily and Parsifal's reason for going on the quest for the spear meaningless. But even worse is the omission of the spear(something that is explicitly referenced numerous times), it undermines Klingsor's evil, it misses the entire point of the third act, without it Parsifal just feels like an irrelevant character and basically the whole story becomes irrelevant. Overall, this Parsifal is musically strong but it is also very strange everywhere else and difficult to get into. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Staging-wise the most inventive it gets is the idea of having Klingsor in a conductor kind of role that seems to be the puppeteer of the action and emotions of the characters and it comes off actually very well and the sexual chemistry between Parsifal and Kundry. The performances are also very good, the best being Thomas Johannes Mayer as a heart-breaking Amfortas, he looks too healthy for the role but vocally he is superb, providing the most beautiful and emotionally impactful singing of the production, and you really feel Amfortas' anguish. There are more evil Klingsors than Tomas Tomasson, but this is more a staging problem than him, but he is still menacing and imposing and his singing is very strong and suitable for the character. Anna Larsson is a Kundry that is sympathetic and wild, the dark velvety mezzo quality to her voice is more than up to the demands of the role and she has superb musicianship too. Andrew Richards sings sweetly and heroically and he does make some effort to show the journey from ignorant youth to the pained soul in the third act, but the stage direction doesn't help him all that much.
Was less taken by Jan-Hendrik Rootering, in a rare occurrence of the Gurnemanz being the weak link of the cast when usually he is one of the best and sometimes the highlight. Here he does sound tired and has control and intonation issues in the first act which doesn't do justice to the many sustained phrases that are among the finest of the entire score. He is a rather stolid actor too, the German Shepherd accompanying him managing to be more convincing dramatically. He does improve in the third act, where he sings with more polish and he is much more noble. But it was the visuals and staging where this Parsifal fell down, some may not find it a problem but it didn't appeal to me at all. The costumes don't fit within the setting with Parsifal looking far too much of a model and this manages to be throughout, and the sets are often too darkly lit and bare, only showing colour with Parsifal and Kundry in their big scene together in Act 2.
The staging is even more problematic, a few moments are inventively done but most of it is far from that. Act 1 is incredibly static, it's a long act and the less eventful parts are almost interminable, and Act 2 completely fizzles rather than sizzles due to the lack of tension and coherence. The presence of the python(who seems to be oblivious to everything the entire time) and nude flower girls do not add anything and while the Japanese bondage is more interesting you do question the point of it. And then there are omissions that make the story incomprehensible, the lack of the dead swan makes Gurnemanz's homily and Parsifal's reason for going on the quest for the spear meaningless. But even worse is the omission of the spear(something that is explicitly referenced numerous times), it undermines Klingsor's evil, it misses the entire point of the third act, without it Parsifal just feels like an irrelevant character and basically the whole story becomes irrelevant. Overall, this Parsifal is musically strong but it is also very strange everywhere else and difficult to get into. 5/10 Bethany Cox
