Wagner - Parsifal
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Movie Reviews of Wagner - Parsifal
Movie Review: Brilliant interpretation\Pseudo-Tradional success
Summary: 5 Stars
This Parsifal is conducted by the brilliant but little known Bayreuth\Wagner genius Horst Stein. Those familiar with Steins Die Meistersinger know to expect great things with this Parsifal, finally transferred to DVD-adding considerable quality to the old VHS. Stein, in both this and the Meistersinger(both traditional) is as unique and inspired as the Met\Levine versions are dull and boorish. Both are pseudo-traditional, which is why they make for good comparisons, as well as Jerusalems role as Parsifal and Weikl as Amfortas.
Lets begin with Gurnemanz. Hans Sotin does a marvelous job-On a personal level I adore Kurt Molls booming and uniquely cavernous voice best with Kubelik, second to only Hotter. But Moll sounds strained on the Levine CD and only slightly better on the DVD though Sotin is a far better actor. Most other aspects(with the possible exception of Kundry(Randova\Meier) of the Stein are superior to Levine. Jerusalem is in much better voice and as an actor(good knows we can barely call it that) but here he is much more believable and likeable and his voice still has the ability to oscillate without any stress(the last true heldentenor). Eva Randova is a good Kundry-though I am so tired of this character portrayed as nothing more than a writhing screaming "mime"esque thing we feel no pity or remorse for and can identify with even less. I have, to date, never been satified with any visual representation of her though on disc she has been well served.
Bernd Weikl has been the Amfortas of choice for over 25 years now and is in better voice with Stein-though no one will ever compare to the Phillips\KNA performance by London-though Morris was close-(just listen to the first phrase in praise of the morning-one of the most beautifully sung passages I have ever heard and an early inclination of how any interpretation will progress.
Bayreuth, of course, plays splendidly though actually the Levine Met of the early 90's were probaly better(that specific Bayreuth Orch had just dealt with significant changes and alterations and was still returning to form while the Met had become one of the most consistently reliable and flawless operatic orchs in the entire world-if not the best.
Most importantly, however, is how do the conductors fair?-and again, those who have heard Steins Meistersinger know what to expect-for those who havent-Stein is a Wagnerian of the first order-probably the best Bayreuthian no one has heard of. For those familiar with Levine, on the otherhand, know that his Wagner is very unpredictable in quality because it is so predictable. His Lohengrin is, in my opinion, excellent and his ring cycle is great besides hildegard behrens awful Brunnhilde and his Tannhauser is pretty good. However-they all have similar flws that are directly the fault of the conductor in terms of the flow, excitement, and feeling. I do not think anyone can argue though that he always produces a beautiful sound. But Levine conjues one of the most boorish and uninspired Parsifal DVDs I have heard. The tempos drag to almost unbearable speed, pushing the audience to its limit. This is one score that, though theoretically would seem to become "deeper" and more "profound" the slower it gets, but really it needs a natural impetus- a natural, springlike feel to make it succeed. There are moments that benefit from a introspective approach-though god help anyone who speeds through the Transformation music---but most vocal interaction benefits from a fluid approach.
Levine's CD is saved by an all-star cast(barely)I am a sucker for James Morris(amfortas) buttery inflection, but the DVD suffers because one must judge it entirely(visual as well as aural.)
In conclusion-this is the first choice of any Parsifal-especially for those who prefer a traditional approach. But also for seasoned Wagnerites who know the work. There is so much beauty to the performance and so much more drama it will stay with you for a long time. For those wanting a CD recommendation-I strongly urge you to buy the KNappertsbusch performance recently remastered or the Kubelik(with many similar cast members as both the stein and the Levine), or the Karajan, or Barenboim.
He Ho.
Movie Review: Buy This One, You Won't Regret It!
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so there are many folks for whom the Kubelik and/or Knappertsbusch CD recordings are considered "superior". These arguments are not without merit. I don't have the Kubelik, but both Knappertbusch recordings (and to a slightly lesser degree, the Karajan box) are tremendous recordings, with singing that can often chill the marrow.
But if you want either a first (or only) FILMED DVD performance of Parsifal, GET this one! This particular dvd has made me rank Parsifal as perhaps the greatest opera in Richard Wagner's repetoire, and that includes even the immense Ring.
Siegfried Jerusalem both looks and sounds perfectly young in this role, perhaps his best performance ever. I must also give many thanks to Hans Sotin for his portrayal of Gurnemanz, I often spin the 1st act just because Sotin is such a likable character. Sotin plays the part with a type of poise that makes him very easy to respect.
Randova is a without question an above average Kundry, I found her a bit shrieky in the second act, but I wonder if that just might be exactly how Wagner intended the angst to be portrayed.
Weikl is also quite good, perhaps better overall than in his Bayreuth Meistersinger dvd. His acting doesn't seem as overwrought and forced as many Amfortas portrayals have been in the past.
The sound on this is superb, and the picture is above average.
Overall, for anyone looking for a performance based on tradition, but not afraid to take a few chances from a directorial/staging persepctive, do NOT hesitiate to grab this one. You will find it more rewarding each successive time you watch it.
Movie Review: A Conductor's Opera
Summary: 5 Stars
Horst Stein is a great Wagnerian. I have an imported Japanese laserdisc of an all-Wagner concert that Stein conducted in Tokyo, and it is masterful. Although he only a guest conductor on the podium, he gets top-notch Wagner out of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
In this video of PARSIFAL, Stein's face never comes on the screen, but the man is all over this piece of music. The staging is appropriate and self-effacing, the singers obediently stand and wait until the musical cue for them to start singing, but driving the performance is the flawless touch of conductor Stein.
Over in Berlin a few years later, Kupfer tried to upstage Barenboim, and the result is schizophrenic. With eyes closed the work is PARSIFAL in the forest; with eyes open the work is some kind of bank robbery in slow motion (it takes place in a bank vault, without a blade of grass, for heaven's sake).
Here in Bayreuth what you get is what you see. There is color, there are living things, people have an ambience with nature and there might be such a thing as a swan, maybe even a magical one, and when the Good Friday music comes, the result is the opposite of alienation. The director-driven stagings are all about alienation, aren't they? No opera is more antithetical to the whole project of alienation on stage than PARSIFAL. Director Wolfgang Wagner simply puts the elements onto the stage, and conductor Stein builds the synthesis.
Movie Review: 5 stars for the music
Summary: 5 Stars
But less for the staging.. It's true that the staging here leaves the first place to the music which is great especially for a magnificent work like Parsifal. But as you know these bayreuth videos are captured without the audience and we are expecting quite rightfully more dynamics in the staging. It's very colorful and elegant with gorgeous set designs but very reluctant and lacks some dynamics especially in the second act. The singers are standing stonelike which is certainly deliberate but somehow disturbing.
But Stein, the great wagnerian, with electrfying conducting, makes us forgive and forget these flaws. Norbert Balasch who is the chorus master in all the bayreuth video productions, drives the choir to a divine level as usual. Singers are also first rate save for acting (Randova especially).
Sound quality and video directions are excellent for sure, all in all this is a great parsifal,conducted and sang by great wagnerians and it's from bayreuth, the wagner temple which makes this an indispensable video. But it's not the definitive one. I would love to see that performing crew with otto schenk's magnificent staging for met; That would have been the definitive one for sure.
Movie Review: Randova is a secure Kundry and the cast are fine indeed
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best Parsifal on DVD by a long chalk. Act 2 is magnificent with a Kundry who hits the top of the stave with vocal power. I think Randova is Meier's equal and is never shrill. Her lower register can be a little quite but she never disappoints. Jerusalem is wonderful and the other cast members are fine.
The importance of this Bayreuth performance is also in its conception, which is traditional. The tendency to reinterpret Wagner as kitchen sink culture is rejected in favour of allowing the opera to 'speak for itself.'
What matters in Parsifal is that redemption is seen to be affective. In Act 1 despair reigns with hope the only light. Act 2, we see the turmoil of spirituality under threat from lust as the weapon employed by egoism and nihilism. In Atc 3 redemption takes place and faith in humanities ability to be saved restored. In this production each Act does exactly what Wagner intended.
If you intend to buy one DVD of Parsifal this is currently the one to get.
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