Wagner - Parsifal
by Horst Stein
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bernd Weikl, Eva Randova, Hans Sotin, Leif Roar, Siegfried JerusalemDirector: Horst Stein
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Original Language), DTS 5.1; German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Chinese (Dubbed); English (Dubbed); French (Dubbed); German (Dubbed), DTS 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 232 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of Wagner - Parsifal
Movie Review: Good visuals and acting but two casting flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
The visuals overall are excellent. So is the conducting. If you're only going to see Parsifal once, this is a good one. With two caveats I describe below.
Siegfried Jerusalem is not nearly as bad here as he was later in the same role and also as Siegfried. I actually enjoyed watching him this time. His shiny, almost brassy top suits him well in this role. And you don't need to be big and loud to play it convincingly, his violence all takes place off stage.
There are two great vocalists in the cast and they are Hans Sotin and Matti Salminen. Each a world-class demonstration example of a very different type of bass. Sotin purrs with extraordinary lightness and depth, like a cello but richer, and Salminen booms like the biggest church bell (from under the stage). Dramatically Sotin manages to make his role interesting which most people agree is a rare accomplishment. The two flaws I mentioned are the baritones Bernd Weikl and Lief Roar, who are both vocally way too small and dramatically boring for their roles. When Amfortas roars "Straffe" and "Erbarmen" it's supposed to hurt or at least astonish the listener. Same problem applies to Lief Roar--Klingsor is supposed to be able to broadcast his voice over distance to his enchanted knights. And he's supposed to be menacing. And "Fuchtbar Not!" should sound like the howl of a wolf. Roar fails on all these counts and he's not even funny.
Eva Randova is convincing although kind of conventional as Kundry if that's not an oxymoron. She's supposed to freak me out more.
If I were introducing someone to Parsifal I might use this but they'd also have to hear the baritone roles done by real Wagner-baritones. The CD with James Morris and Ekkehard Wlaschiha is OK in this regard (although Domingo sucks) but I never really appreciated Amfortas' personality until I heard George London's famous recorded performance from 1962 at Bayreuth under Knappertsbusch. If a pneumatic drill could sing this is what it would sound like, except George London is smarter and feels pain. Another great one for size and intelligence is Hans Hotter from 1954 (he sang Amfortas before switching to Gurnemanz which he did when he got too old to lift his instrument). In both performances Klingsor is Gustav Neidlinger who epitomizes Wagnerian dark bass-baritone villians of the howling-and-spitting type and even manages to sound like one when he sings Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Bach's B-Minor Mass.
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