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Health & Fitness

Met's HD of Wagner's "Parsifal" Offers Fabulous Cast

Vocally this must be the best "Parsifal"in memory. It was one of the longest -- and certainly the bloodiest -- but a marvelous experience.

Vocally this must be the best Parsifal in memory. Its sensitive, solemn pacing by the Italian conductor Daniele Gatti, also made it the longest. The audience arrived at the local movie theatres at 12:00 PM and did not depart until 10 minutes to 6:00. But the hours flew past because the incredible performance was gloriously riveting throughout.

This, the last of Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) “operas” which he instead chose to call “Buehnenweihfestspiel,” (a coined combination, meaning “Stage-consecrating-festival-play” because of its theological/spiritual content,) was first staged at Bayreuth in July of 1882. Originally meant to be restricted to the famous Festsphielhaus there, Parsifal debuted at the Met on New Year’s Eve of 1903. It was heralded as national front-page news! (Just a reminder that opera was then taken far more seriously than now.)

Parsifal, densely complex, with its enigmatic, transcendent message, offers no arias to hum on your way out. But a great deal of the thrilling entity, with its 22 leitmotives, stays with you if you have any musical ear at all. The innovative chromatic harmonies forecast atonality, which was not to come to general composition-usage until years later.

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Parsifal’s complicated libretto, as usual by Wagner himself, is quite poetic, even interspersed with rhymes. It is based on “Parzeval,” Wolfram von Eschenbach’s early 13th Century chivalric romance, as well as Chretien de Troyes’ “Perceval ou de le conte du Grail.” That rendition of the legend was said to have been written between 1181 and 1190. 

I could go on and on, but then this review would be as long as the opera itself.

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Its story line loosely is that only an innocent “pure fool,” can rejuvenate the mythical Knights of the Roundtable, (sort of) who are the keepers of the holiest of relics. They have retained the Grail, the cup Jesus drank out of at the Last Supper, and that captured his blood at the crucifixion, but have lost the spear that was thrust into his side. Their king, Amfortas, has been suffering with an incurable wound inflicted by an evil sorceror, Klingsor, whom the knights rejected from joining their ranks. Only the return of the spear will heal the wound. Overcoming temptation and Klingsor, Parsifal returns the spear, cures Amfortas with it and is made king of the knights. The Roundtable is rejuvenated.

The Met’s current Parsifal is a co-production with the Opera National de Lyon and the Canadian Opera Company. The producer Francois Girard, (the creator of the wonderful movie “The Red Violin,” among other inspired productions,) together with dramaturg, Michael Levine, and all the other talented members of the creative team, have concocted an offering that not only portrays the Christian myth, and the Buddhist influences, but transports the action into a timeless, but discernable post-apocalypse setting. Gloom persists throughout.

The dried-out floor of the stage hints at our ecological neglect. Highly imaginative projections, frequently space related, subtly change the mood and give us sexual overtones.

There is an abundance of the use of blood. That indeed seems overdone. In the 2nd act, Klingsor’s attempt to tempt Parsifal, which Wagner set in a mystical flower-garden, is transported into an actual pool of bloody water that soiled the female temptress’ legs and white costumes.  During the informative intermission features, hosted by the great bass-baritone Eric Owens, we were informed that shaving cream was the most effective way to remove the “blood” from the performer’s limbs.

If anyone entertains the idea that modernization of operas saves money, this cannot be true of this production. The cleaning bills for the costumes must be enormous!

Ignoring Wagner’s, as usual, very specific stage directions, while sticking to the words of the libretto, inevitably causes problems. Parsifal, arrives after senselessly shooting a swan. His bow and arrow are importantly discussed but he arrives without the weapon.  And in Act 3, for instance, we hear of the beauty of a “flowering meadow,” while we are presented with an overwhelmingly gloomy cemetery. Ah, well -- a small price to pay for the overall powerful effect accomplished…

You wonder what Nietzsche, the German philosopher, erstwhile a tremendous admirer of Wagner, might have thought of this production. He condemned Wagner for the idea of “Mitleid” (compassion) saving the world, saying Wagner “suddenly sank down, helpless and broken before the Christian Cross.”

Now to the fantastic cast: Jonas Kaufman, the German super-star tenor, is truly in his element in the title role. The range of sonority, the strength of his delivery, the pianissimos when called for, were a real credit to this talented singing actor.

But it really is Rene Pape’s triumph. The German basso, who has performed  nearly 200 times, in 23 roles at the Met, here sings Gurnemanz, the knight who relates the story and directs everyone as to what their aim should be. Although absent in Act 2, he has the largest singing portion, and does it magnificently and with great beauty. His diction is impeccable. He owns the role internationally, it is said.

The Swedish baritone, Peter Mattei, sings and acts the suffering Amfortas to perfection.

The only important female part, the mysterious temptress, Kundry  who cannot die, because she mocked Christ at his crucifixion, but who is released from life at the end, was magnificently sung/acted by the Swedish soprano Katarina Dalayman.

Evgeny Nikitin, the Russian bass-baritone as the evil Klingsor, completed this remarkable set of Wagnerian specialists.

Peter Gelb during one of the intermissions, explained with deserved pride, that it was the Met’s aim to show the entire planet the best it has to offer via these HD transmissions. The assemblage of this cast backed by the talented creative production team and the always outstanding Met orchestra, made this a truly memorable operatic experience.

I urge everyone to attend the encore of Parsifal on March 20th, at 6:30 PM at the WHITE PLAINS CITY CENTER 15:CINEMA DE LUX or NEW ROCHELLE – REGAL NEW ROC CITY 18.   (Forget that it takes almost 6 hours. Those race by. Just be sure to feed the parking meter correctly.)

 

Here are impressions from some of your neighbors:

Jane Gutman of Scarsdale, found the first act “tedious” and almost left because of the length of the opera. But “was very glad that she did not.” In retrospect she found herself deciphering the myriad symbols entrenched within that first act and all that followed. (I think that is exactly what the production wants us to do.)

Peter Silton of RyeBrook, a very well-informed opera-buff (with a mother who was an opera singer) was attending his first Parsifal. He praised the cast, admired the mood-changing projected cloud-formations, and then said: “Why is this opera called Parsifal when Gurnemanz has the lead?”

Sandra Feldstein of Dobbs Ferry was “negative” about attending any opera by Wagner. This was her first and thus obviously her first Parsifal. She said she “enjoyed everything after the dark first act,” but admitted the complicated action often found her not concentrating on the music itself. 

Anne Beckman who came from Darien to see this transmission, “theoretically” avoids Wagner. “I am a Bach person,” she said. This was her first Parsifal, which she decided was beautifully sung and brilliantly staged. She said she now prefers the HD performances rather than attending at the Met itself, frankly because the movie theatre seats are further apart and are more comfortable than those at the house.

VocallyJudit Lendvay of White Plains had “very mixed reactions.” She adores the music, but felt the modern setting did not add anything, especially in the first act. “However that act is very long and slow and not much is happening, so we need something to look at.” She thought Dalayman’s Kundry the best of the performances; admired Pape’s greatly; thought Kaufman’s rendition “developed nicely. And it helps that he is so good-looking.” She said her boyfriend, Stephen Feldman, also of WP, was very much in agreement with how she felt.

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