Richard Wagner, Parsifal
Falk Struckmann – Amfortas
Matthias Hölle – Titurel
Hans Sotin – Gurnemanz
Poul Elming – Parsifal
Ekkehard Wlaschina – Klingsor
Linda Watson – Kundry
Choir and Orchestra of the Bayreuth
Festival
Giuseppe Sinopoli – conductor
Unitel Classica/C major (Blu-Ray:
715804)
Also available as DVD (705908)
This Blu-Ray disc from C major is both
a fascinating historical document and a first-rate performance of Parsifal.
From a historical perspective it gives a unique insight into Wolfgang Wagner’s
final Parsifal production and is one of the few testaments we have of Giuseppe’s
Sinopoli as a Wagner conductor (the only other complete Wagner performances
that I can find are a Flying Dutchman from 1998 and two Tannhauser, one from
Bayreuth). From a musical point of view, there is powerful conducting and some very
good individual singing, in addition of course to the habitually high standards
of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus. Overall this is a strong
performance, and definitely one of the best available on Blu-Ray.
Giuseppe Sinopoli succeeded James
Levine as Bayreuth’s Parsifal conductor. Levine’s reign lasted from 1982 to
1993 (with Daniel Barenboim taking over for a year in 1987). Sinopoli conducted
Parsifal for six years from 1994 through 1999. The staging by Wolfgang Wagner seen
here made its first appearance under Levine in 1989. The performance seen here
comes from 1998 and was released for the first time on DVD in May 2011. This
review is of the Blu-Ray, released in 2014.
Sinopoli’s conducting is expansive. The
Prelude comes in at 13’47”, which is slow but not super-slow. But the drama as
a whole takes 4 hours 39 minutes, several minutes slower than Levine’s famously
slow 1990 recording – and just a couple of minutes quicker by Toscanini’s 1931
Bayreuth performance. The Prelude to Act III show’s Sinopoli’s approach to good
effect. It is measured, but not slow for the sake of slow. The tempi set the
forward movement for Act III. Sinopoli’s conducting is commanding where it
counts (particularly in the two great choral scenes in the outer acts) and he
brings out many details of the score that remain buried in other performances.
Each of the two transformation scenes is very effective. The Good Friday Music,
in particular, flows naturally from the pacing of the act, rather than emerging
as a set piece.
Wolfgang Wagner’s production is
appealingly simple, clearly looking back to the Neue Bayreuth productions of
the 1950s and 1960s. In Act I the forest is suggested by backdrop structures of
stacked green polygons, which eventually part to make way for a vaguely
Egyptian-looking Temple with a floor abstractly patterned in octagons. The
patterned floor is a constant through the other two acts, and the abstract
structures return for Act III. Variation comes with the lighting, which is used
to very good effect (as in Wieland’s productions). In Act III the glowing grail
casting a luminous red light on the costumes of the knights is particularly
memorable.
There is one truly outstanding
performance here – Falk Struckman’s Amfortas. Struckman captures Amfortas’s
declining authority in Act I without making him seem decrepit and he certainly
steals the show in Act III. Not only is he in very fine voice, he is the only
member of the cast who could really be described as acting. The others
typically stand and sing. In some cases they sing well. Hans Sotin is a
magisterial Gurnemanz, with “Titurel der fromme held” approaching Hans Hotter’s
level (helped by Sinopoli’s luminous conducting). Poul Elming portrays the
boisterous and confused Act I Parsifal well. But although he sings powerfully
in Acts II and IIII (particularly after baptizing Kundry) Parsifal doesn’t seem
to have acquired much depth or wisdom. This is partly a problem of acting, but
also reflects shortcomings in characterization. The same can be said of Linda
Watson, here making her first Bayreuth appearance. She has a fine voice and
sings well, but does not really get to grips with the complexities of the role.
During the Parsifal-Kundry encounter in Act II the real drama takes place in
the orchestra pit. Ekkehard Wlaschiha is a forceful Klingsor (despite wearing
what looks rather like a Stanford PhD gown!) and Matthias Hölle’s off-stage
Titurel is effective.
This performance is more than good,
although not quite great. The Blu-Ray picture is very impressive (despite the
disclaimer on the box), as is the sound quality. This disc should be in every
Parsifal enthusiast’s collection.
