Topic: Wagner's Parsifal

[Barbebleu]

Thank you for the info Rafael.  I do hope that someday the 1955 Kna will see the light.  And I completely agree–the Cluytens would be a great addition to the Parsifal discography!  Which performances/recordings do you have in your collection?  My collection so far:

Knappertsbusch - 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964
Barenboim - Teldec
Thielemann - DG
R. Kraus - Gebhardt
C. Krauss - Gebhardt
Kegel - Berlin Classics
Levine - Decca Box (The Wagner Operas)
Levine - DG (DVD)
Gatti - Sony (DVD)
Kubelik - Arts Archives
Solti - Decca Box
Jordan - Erato
Gergiev - Mariinsky
Jochum - Living Stage
Conlon - 2002 (Paris)

Way too few!!

Still some major holes to fill: Boulez, Zweden, Kempe, Levine (DG-Domingo), Goodall, Kanowski, Karajan...

Best,

Paul

I have Parsifal from Bayreuth for every year from '51 to '72 plus '76, '85, '98 and 2012. The only Kna I am missing is the elusive '55. Others are

Buenos Aires 1969 Leinsdorf
Covent Garden 1971 Goodall
Covent Garden 2013 Pappano
Milan 1960
Munich 1964
Munich 1977 Stein
New York Met 1966
Paris 1954
Paris 1976 Stein
Rome 1950
Rome 1970
Salzburg 2013
Stockholm 1976 Segerstam
Venice 1970
Vienna 1961 Karajan

Studio
Gergiev, Goodall, Karajan, Kegel, Kubelik, Moralt, Solti and Thielemann

As you can see I'm quite fond of Parsifal myself. I'm also not too shy to admit I haven't listened to them all yet. Getting there though. I have a list in my wallet giving bare info on my Wagner operas which is why I am short on conductor details. I shall get back with the missing data.

[rw1883]

I have Parsifal from Bayreuth for every year from '51 to '72 plus '76, '85, '98 and 2012. The only Kna I am missing is the elusive '55. Others are

Buenos Aires 1969 Leinsdorf
Covent Garden 1971 Goodall
Covent Garden 2013 Pappano
Milan 1960
Munich 1964
Munich 1977 Stein
New York Met 1966
Paris 1954
Paris 1976 Stein
Rome 1950
Rome 1970
Salzburg 2013
Stockholm 1976 Segerstam
Venice 1970
Vienna 1961 Karajan

Studio
Gergiev, Goodall, Karajan, Kegel, Kubelik, Moralt, Solti and Thielemann

As you can see I'm quite fond of Parsifal myself. I'm also not too shy to admit I haven't listened to them all yet. Getting there though. I have a list in my wallet giving bare info on my Wagner operas which is why I am short on conductor details. I shall get back with the missing data.

Wow–that is a great collection!  I'm very interested in hearing about the Segerstam from '76.

[Barbebleu]

Wow–that is a great collection!  I'm very interested in hearing about the Segerstam from '76.

Here is a link to where I got the Segerstam.

http://operadepot.com/products/wagner-parsifal-kolbjorn-hoiseth-barbro-ericson-bengt-lundgren-erik-saeden-leif-segerstam

I think the reviewer is a bit harsh. It's not staggeringly good but it's not too bad either. The technical issues are an irritation but no more than that. It's nice to have a Scandinavian slant to this work.

[rw1883]

Here is a link to where I got the Segerstam.

http://operadepot.com/products/wagner-parsifal-kolbjorn-hoiseth-barbro-ericson-bengt-lundgren-erik-saeden-leif-segerstam

I think the reviewer is a bit harsh. It's not staggeringly good but it's not too bad either. The technical issues are an irritation but no more than that. It's nice to have a Scandinavian slant to this work.

Thank you!!

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I have recently fallen in love with Knappertsbusch's -54 Parsifal recording. This one is even better than -62. Along with Solti's magnificent recording this has to be my favorite. The only minor criticism I could think of is that Titurel's singer, Theo Adam, was only 28 when participating in this, thus making him much younger than Hotter who plays Amfortas, Titurel's son. But still, it works much better than one would think.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

It seems in Wolfram's epic, a squire calls Parzival a goose for not asking the healing question (the question is: "Sir, why do you suffer so?"). This in turn is based on even older poem by  Chrétien de Troyes where the question is different ("Who is served by the Grail?").So that explains Gurnemanz's goose comment. Still not less cringe-worthy, though, and the reference is very illogical in any case since Wagner decided to dispense with the "healing question" entirely in his handling of the myth and instead focused on the importance of recovering the spear.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

It seems in Wolfram's epic, a squire calls Parzival a goose for not asking the healing question (the question is: "Sir, why do you suffer so?"). This in turn is based on even older poem by  Chrétien de Troyes where the question is different ("Who is served by the Grail?").So that explains Gurnemanz's goose comment. Still not less cringe-worthy, though, and the reference is very illogical in any case since Wagner decided to dispense with the "healing question" entirely in his handling of the myth and instead focused on the importance of recovering the spear.

Interesting, thanks!

[Barbebleu]

I have recently fallen in love with Knappertsbusch's -54 Parsifal recording. This one is even better than -62. Along with Solti's magnificent recording this has to be my favorite. The only minor criticism I could think of is that Titurel's singer, Theo Adam, was only 28 when participating in this, thus making him much younger than Hotter who plays Amfortas, Titurel's son. But still, it works much better than one would think.

This is a good Parsifal. You might want to have a listen to Kna's final outing in 1964 with Jon Vickers in the title role. At the moment this is my favourite.

[ritter]

Cross-posted from the "New Releases" thread:

And more Wagner...last year's new production of Parsifal from Bayreuth:


Announced for July 21st.

I find it rather sad that the current management in Bayreuth has given in to the fashion by which anything is immortalized and made available on DVD immediately after it's been given in the theatre. One of the beauties of the festival is that productions are given usually for at least five summers, and can therefore be polished and improved if necessary. With these issues on DG, what we get is how a production starts out, not the end result.

[ritter]

The Stefan Herheim staging of Parsifal, which ran in Bayreuth from 2008 to 2012, and has by now achieved almost legendary status, has once again been posted on YouTube (one video per act). It’s the live broadcast from 11 August 2012, conducted by Philippe Jordan (he took over the baton that year from Daniele Gatti, who had been at the helm since the first run 4 years earlier).  For anyone interested in watching this, I’d suggest they do so quickly, as it’s likely it’ll be pulled down soon (due to copyright issues).

Why the Bayreuth management never allowed this to be commercially released remains a mystery. Granted, the effect is not the same as what could be experienced in the theatre, but that’s true for almost all opera productions, and this landmark staging—Bayreuth at its considerable best— merited the widest exposure.

Act I:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/DXaGWCHsQBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/DXaGWCHsQBA</a>

Act II:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/KYSa1jSpNC4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/KYSa1jSpNC4</a>

Act III:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/jsRzlAXYV1w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/jsRzlAXYV1w</a>

[Brewski]

Fresh from yesterday's livestream (on OperaVision), here is the Hungarian State Opera's Parsifal, conducted by Balázs Kocsár. I don't have time to listen today (5 hours!), but it's available until 15 October 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5O17S4uHZ0

--Bruce