Wagner - Parsifal (Stein, Odbf, Jerusalem, Randova, Sotin) [DVD] [2007]

Until now, I haven't felt that there was a recommendable "Parsifal" available on DVD. Nagano's version from the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden is visually inane and musically uninspiring, while Levine's Metropolitan Opera version is safely traditional but unexpectedly dull.

Here is a version recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival in 1981. I've been very pleased to find that this is, with some caveats, an outstanding version of the opera.

In Act 1, the character of Gurnemanz is of critical importance since it is his role to explain the background of Kundry, Amfortas, Titurel, Klingsor and the spear to the audience. Fortunately Hans Sotin as Gurnemanz and conductor Horst Stein bring every facet of the story to life. I've heard Stein's conducting in this performance described as pedestrian. Not so. The orchestral response is thrilling in the Transformation Music, and the singing of the Grail Knights in the following section is magnificent.

As for Siegfried Jerusalem, this performance finds him, aged 41, fairly near the beginning of his operatic career (he was a bassoonist until the age of 35). Nevertheless, it seems he was already an excellent Parsifal, and this recording allows him to shine more than the Levine DVD from 1992. Matti Salminen is towering (and unmistakable) as Titurel, and Bernd Weikl conveys all of Amfortas's pain and anguish.

I didn't think that Act 2 was quite as successful, largely on account of Eva Randova's Kundry. I found her voice unduly shrill. For me that detracted from the latter half of the act where Kundry's role is so important. On the positive side, Stein is impressive in the chromatic music representing Klingsor's kingdom, and he brings a sense of eroticism to the Flower Maidens' music that harks back to "Tristan".

Things are back on track in Act 3. A particular highlight is the Good Friday music, which is given a performance of enormous power and beauty. I've never heard it sound so moving, despite owning the 1951 Knappertsbusch recording of "Parsifal" and the orchestral-only performances by Jochum and Furtwängler. The end of the opera is radiant. One almost is almost disappointed by the lack of applause on the DVD.

Wolfgang Wagner's staging seem quite traditional to me: a leafy forest glade for Act 1, a vaulting chamber for the castle. The 1981 video transfer is clear. As so often, the video direction is by Brian Large. The sound is generally excellent, although the volume does not always seem consistent between acts.

In summary, despite the problem I have with Act 2, I feel that this is a great recording of "Parsifal". I'd recommend it without hesitation.

Finally the quest for the holy grail is over: A performance/production of Parsifal on Dvd that is really worth investing in and really helps you appreciate that in fact Parsifal IS a great opera.

My knowledge of Parsifal is limited to the Nagano Dvd and the Levine/New York Met production (similar to the first reviewer here). I have seen a couple of live performances and have a few recordings on dvd (Von Karajan, Knappertsbusch (1962), Levine). I can say that, regarding dvds, whereas the Nagano production suffers from: a) conducting that seems to me to lack feeling and, b) from being another silly modern stage, and while the Levine production is: a) sluggish with unimaginative tempi and, b) lacking in dramatic effect, this Bayreuth version is conducted with pace by Stein but is nevertheless replete with ethereal atmospheric effect induced by a really effective layering of the score, the staging is perfect - not cluttered, but scenic and in fact beautiful - and individual performances in terms of singing and acting are really first rate.

Ultimately this recording illustrates how fundamental it is to adhere to Wagner's stage instructions to maximize not only dramatic effect but, I believe, also to bring out the sheer beauty of the music. Stein, backed by an excellent orchestra, conducts well for sure but the fact that there is real synthesis between music and drama - the gesamtkunstwerk of which Wagner extolled - really does serve to facilitate both: the music seems more apt and imbued with significance, the drama simultaneously drives and is driven by the music. The music and the drama make sense when harmonized in this manner - a far cry from many, if not most modern stagings, such as a recent live production I saw that was set in an institution for the mentally ill; in what way is the prideful, sombre marching music of the knights befitting of a congregation of nutters in a loony bin!?!?! Ridiculous!

I have to say I hate modern productions and they are potentially killing off new generations of would-be Wagner enthusiasts. The difference in effect on a Wagner neophyte seeing this Bayreuth production as compared to seeing one of the dodgy modern translations would be palpable - it is essentially the difference between rendering the opera quasi transcendental and rendering it an absurdity. That modern stagers think they can outdo the work of a genius who made it his life-time obsession to perfect every last detail of his mature opera works is in itself absurd!

Now for some details:
As I have mentioned the staging is excellent and the dramaturgy pretty much faultless throughout.
Siegfried Jerusalem is absolutely excellent as Parsifal here. He is about 12 years younger than in the Levine/Met Opera Dvd version which I think makes all the difference since we must assume that 'der reine tor' is not a man well into his fifties. Furthermore, he seems to be vocally at his peak here; his voice is powerful and perfectly nuanced and controlled. His acting is appropriate for Parsifal who must come over as being naive but not an imbecile (by contrast I have seen Jerusalem play Siegfried, a character not dissimilar to Parsifal in many ways, as an imbecile in Dvd versions of Siegfried and Gotterdammerung).
Sotin as Gurnemanz and Weikl as Amfortas are also perfect both in terms of singing and acting. Sotin is much subtler than, for example, Kurt Moll in the Met production whose 'acting' appears to revolve around glancing at the conductor every five seconds for guidance. As Amfortas Weikl looks and plays the part and his interaction with the Knights in the two grail scenes has a real visceral edge to it lacking in other productions.
Randova as Kundry, for the most part, is also excellent. I would agree with the first reviewer here that her voice is perhaps insufficiently sweet to be convincingly seductive in Act 2. This is something of a fault and lacks the power of Waltraud Meier's performance in the Levine Dvd. You can understand Parsifal's struggle to remain 'pure' when confronted with the lyrical and visual treat of Meier but not quite so much with Randova although she is not exactly weak in this respect. The flower-maiden scene is done so well that this somewhat compensates for the relative lack of 'seduction effect'. Randova is very good, however, as the wretched alter-ego of Kundry, her screams of anguish seem pertinent rather than melodramatic.

Some small gripes. In the final scene Kundry is supposed to fall 'lifeless to the ground' - this does not happen here and I think it is a fault albeit not a debilitating one. The beam of light, used in other productions, that should fall on the grail when in the office of Parisfal is also lacking which I think somewhat detracts from dramatic effect and the significance of the work.
I can live with these omissions as I can with Randova's less than particularly seductive voice in the 2nd act because everything else is spot on.

So, in a nutshell, if you want a traditional Wagner rendition of Parsifal that synthesizes music and drama as facilitated by truly excellent acting and singing engendering perfectly the atmospheric effect I believe Wagner would have wanted, then you MUST buy this. It is Wagner's gesamtkunstwerk at about as high a degree as you are likely to see - probably on dvd or any performance live now that the evil Wagner hating modernist stagers have saturated the opera world.

This production provides just about everything I want from a Wagner opera. The setting is traditional, in that there is a recognizable forest and cathedral, and the costumes are in keeping with the idea of a religious order of knights etc. Scene changing is done via cross-fades, removing the need for obtrusive stage-hands interrupting the opera. While "stage business" may be a necessary evil to a live audience I see no problem with discreet editing for video release. One slight caveat here, though; the spear catching was also done by editing, and is a little abrupt, but in it's favour it produces a mild shock at just the right moment, and the symbolism is clear.
The real pleasure in this release, though, is that I can imagine no better cast of singers all at once in the same opera! Hans Sotin as Gurnemanz sings in a dignified manner befitting a High Priest, as does Bernd Weikl as Amfortas. Leif Roar is suitably menacing as Klingsor, and, as with all the principals, he looks and acts credibly. But the entire opera belongs to the interplay between Siegfried Jerusalem and Eva Randova; The Act 2 Temptation/Curse scene is absolutely exemplary. Both characters look the part - he a young hero, she a sultry temptress - and do not require us to "forgive" the less fortunate physiques of many a great Wagnerian singer, while for a full half-hour we are treated to singing which is clear, expressive and true to pitch, with none of this sliding up to notes so common among Wagner singers. This practise strikes me as an aural equivalent of hoisting up one's underwear, and is mercifully absent here. Randova particularly shines in the incredibly difficult chromaticisms of the attempted seduction. Pure Wagnerian bliss!
The 5.1 orchestral sound is rich and clear - a common problem with video releases which normally only a studio recording can alleviate, but this release is as good as any video I have ever heard, while the balance between voices and orchestra remains rock steady.
I am not always convinced that a blood relationship to a composer conveys real authority on an interpretation, and Wolfgang Wagner's Meistersinger is an example which I feel doesn't work, but here I have no hesitation in thinking that Richard would wholeheartedly approve of this.

A fully earned five stars.