Wagner's Parsifal

Started by rubio, August 31, 2008, 05:43:48 AM

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Barbebleu

Quote from: rw1883 on November 05, 2016, 01:26:51 PM
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!! ;D

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

Quote from: Barbebleu on November 28, 2016, 12:34:16 PM
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

Quote from: rw1883 on November 28, 2016, 05:48:53 PM
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

Quote from: Barbebleu on November 29, 2016, 01:32:31 AM
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.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

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.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Karl Henning

Quote from: Alberich on March 28, 2017, 05:56:30 AM
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!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Barbebleu

Quote from: Alberich on March 15, 2017, 06:40:35 AM
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:

Quote from: ritter on May 09, 2017, 04:17:04 AM
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:
https://www.youtube.com/v/DXaGWCHsQBA

Act II:
https://www.youtube.com/v/KYSa1jSpNC4

Act III:
https://www.youtube.com/v/jsRzlAXYV1w

bhodges

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

ritter

My first reactions (cross-posted from the WOAYLTN thread) to the recently released recording of Parsifal from Vienna on Sony, conducted by Philippe Jordan. I fully recommend this set, in the most enthusiastic terms, to anyone interested in this extraordinary work!

Quote from: ritter on March 09, 2024, 12:27:24 PMRichard Wagner: Parsifal (Act I).



Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča, Ludovic Tézier, Georg Zeppenfeld, Wolfgang Koch. Vienna State Opera, Philippe Jordan (cond.).

It's not often that one gets to have recordings of a major work like Parsifal by father and son in one's collection*. Armin recorded the work in the early 80s in Monte Carlo for Erato (as the soundtrack of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's beautiful film), and now we have Philippe in this sumptuous release on Sony, made live —composite of several performances— in Vienna in 2021.

So far, the prelude is sounding gorgeous, and Zeppenfeld is —not unexpectedly— very convincing as Gurnemanz.

I attended a performance of Parsifal conducted by Philippe Jordan in Bayreuth in August 2012 (the last year of the legendary Stefan Herheim production), and it was outstanding.

* Only Kleiber père et fils (Erich and Carlos) come to mind as a precedent.

Quote from: ritter on March 10, 2024, 01:59:19 AMAct II today...

This is turning out to be a superb recording of Parsifal. What Philippe Jordan does with the orchestra is admirable, with excellent detail of the miraculous scoring of the work, very effective control of dynamics, and shaping the dramatic ebb and flow expertly. Really first-rate!

And the singing is invariably strong. Act II is the "Kundry act", and Elīna Garanča is quite wonderful. It's nice to someone from a more bel canto background in this rôle, and this mezzo's versatility is astonishing (Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, zarzuela...).

Wolfgang Koch has a long and distinguished career behind him, but was never the subtlest of singers. As Klingsor, though, this relative lack of refinement is a plus, actually. A powerful portrayal.

Many reviews I've read point out that Jonas Kaufmann in the title rôle is the weakest link in the cast (even if nobody goes as far as to say that he's actually bad). I think this is a matter of taste, and much to do Kaufmann's "bartonal" tenor voice. I like it (as I do the portrayal of his illustrious predecessor Ramón Vinay, who sang Parsifal and Tristan very successfully, but would also sing baritone roles). Yes, Kaufmann sounds like a "mature" pure fool, but this works for this role. Perhaps not as distinctive as other performances in this set, but still quite good (and some really fine moments in the long Act II narrative).

Let's see how Act III turns out, but on the basis of what I've listened to so far, this is one of the greatest Parsifal recordings I know (and I know many  ;)  ).

EDIT:

Act III does not let down by any means. Ludovic Tézier's is a beautifully sung (he is one of the leading Verdi baritones of the present day), tormented Amfortas. Zeppenfeld confirms his mastery of the role of Gurnemanz in his long monologues in this final act (and I for one like this type of younger sounding voices for the role). Kaufmann somewhat gains in brilliance, and is more convincing than in the previous ones.

The choruses are excellent (as good as those from Bayreuth).

But this is Philippe Jordan's show, and all credit to him for a great achievement!

The shimmering finale, "Höchsten Heiles Wunder", is achingly beautiful ...



T. D.

Thanks for the write-up, very interesting.
Parsifal is my favorite Wagner opera. I used to have the Syberberg film on VHS (back in the day, I also like the film btw) and heard Armin Jordan's version many times, so this appeals. I don't own any CD recordings by Jordan père, though besides his Parsifal I've considered Le Roi Arthus and a French symphonic box set.

ritter

Quote from: T. D. on March 10, 2024, 08:47:47 AMThanks for the write-up, very interesting.
Parsifal is my favorite Wagner opera. I used to have the Syberberg film on VHS (back in the day, I also like the film btw) and heard Armin Jordan's version many times, so this appeals. I don't own any CD recordings by Jordan père, though besides his Parsifal I've considered Le Roi Arthus and a French symphonic box set.
There's also his recording of Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-Bleu, which is very good IMHO.

I have the other sets you mention. There's much to enjoy in the ICON French symphonic box. I don't really like Chausson's Le Roi Arthus (but have nothing to complain about as far as the recording is concerned).