Wagner’s Parsifal; recommendations?

[fergus]

I was wondering whether or not you had a version in your burgeoning Blu Ray collection Jared....but obviously not!

sorry, but no my friend... a growing amount of Bel Canto, Verdi & Puccini though...

Yes indeed....and I will bear that in mind for future reference. My opera content section in my collection still needs some attention!

[Jose Echenique]

I was wondering whether or not you had a version in your burgeoning Blu Ray collection Jared....but obviously not!

sorry, but no my friend... a growing amount of Bel Canto, Verdi & Puccini though...

You can never go wrong with Verdi and Bel Canto Jared.

[Jared]

You can never go wrong with Verdi and Bel Canto Jared.

providing of course, you don't take along a school child and tell them that's how English history really was!

[Jose Echenique]

You can never go wrong with Verdi and Bel Canto Jared.

providing of course, you don't take along a school child and tell them that's how English history really was!

Friedrich Schiller is the one who is responsible for the historical inaccuracies of famous operas like Verdi´s Don Carlos and Donizetti´s Maria Stuarda, those are based on his plays, and he acknowledged the freedoms he took on what was actually fact. And yet, isn´t it great the big confrontation between Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart? If it didn´t happen it should have :-)

[fergus]

An opportunity came up for me to buy the Knappertsbusch version cheaply so I took it. This is the first time that I have heard the entire opera. What an amazing work this is! The music has an understated beauty; reverential, almost devotional. The Knappertsbusch led performance is full of solemn dignity. It was a wonderful listen and I can understand why Pepe said that it was a spiritual experience; some of the music is just absolutely glorious. I will undoubtedly buy the von Karajan version as well.

[mcq]

Look out for Gergiev's recent version on the Marinsky label, Fergus.  It is a truly exceptional reading of this most spiritual of Wagner's works.  Gergiev is not a noted Wagner interpreter by any means but this is a complete success.  He takes things very slowly, lingering and caressing each phrase.  Personally, I can't wait for the impending release of Die Walkure with the same forces.  To my mind, Rene Pape is one of the finest renderings of Gurnemanz I have ever heard, a performance of real depth.  Violeta Urbana rises beautifully to the immense demands of the Kundry character which is, in my opinion, one of the great operatic roles, an untameable work of nature that just cries out for the compassion that lies at the heart of this great work.

Among other versions, do not discount Solti's version.  There is more beauty in Karajan's conducting but it is always worthwhile listening to Solti for the passion and drama he can bring to the proceedings.  I haven't yet heard Boulez's version from Bayreuth.  His Ring cycle is one of the best (alongside Barenboim) of modern times and I have heard very good things about his Parsifal.  On DVD, Kent Nagano (from Baden-Baden) and Bernard Haitink (from Zurich) are also highly recommended.  They both boast the excellent Christopher Ventris in the title role and Matti Salminen as Gurnemanz.  Haitink's conducting is beautifully nuanced and richly textured and the underrated - in my view - Nagano takes tempos a little more quickly without sacrificing anything of the work's immense spiritual depth.  The deciding factor for me has to be Michael Volle's tortured, anguished Amfortas which moves me more convincingly than Thomas Hampson's performance for Nagano.

But, in terms, of absolute performances, Knappertsbusch is the greatest interpreter of Parsifal.  Here is compassion, nobility, beauty and redemption realised on the grandest possible scale.   I believe there are 11 recordings available of the performances of Parsifal that Knappertsbusch gave at Bayreuth between 1951 and 1964.  The one other version I would dearly love to hear is the one from 1964 which saw Jon Vickers take on the title role, and after which Knappertsbusch retired from conducting.

[Jose Echenique]

The Gergiev recording was quite a surprise. The brass of the Mariinsky orchestra is typically Russian, so different from the smoother Austro-German sounds we are used to in this music. I don´t imply it´s badly played, it´s not, just very different from the Western tradition.
Pape is very good, and can join the distinguished company of Gottlob Frick, Kurt Moll, Josef Greindl, Franz Crass and other fine basses who have recorded Gurnemanz.
The Solti recording is very good, actually I think it´s one of his better Wagner recordings, but in general the Karajan is superior. The Boulez is ultra fast, cerebral, intellectual, but not for everyone.
The Baremboim should not be overlooked, it also has the Berlin Philharmonic in superb form, and gorgeous TELDEC sound. Siegfried Jerusalem is excellent in the title role, but it´s Waltraud Meier who steals the show as Kundry, probably the greatest ever.

[mcq]

The Barenboim version was recently released belatedly on DVD and I do intend to purchase it as soon as possible.  Jerusalem was always one of the most charismatic Heldentenors and his Siegfried for Barenboim was very special.  I do own Horst Stein's very fine version of Parsifal from Bayreuth on DVD with Jerusalem in the title role.  He really does seem to bring a kind of childlike innocence to the role.  Meier appears as Kundry in Nagano's version on DVD and she is an extremely powerful and vivid presence, which is just what you want with this extraordinary creation of Wagner's (indeed, in the operatic repertoire, only Debussy's Melisande comes close as a depiction of a wild and ultimately unknowable character - completely different repertoire, I know, but both characters are primal forces of nature, apparently beyond human understanding).

By the way, Jose, have you heard Marek Janowski's Parsifal on Pentatone? All of his Wagner recordings have been very well reviewed in recent years. I'm also curious about Simone Young's and Sebastian Weigle's Ring cycles on Oehms. Have you heard anything from their respective cycles?

[Jose Echenique]

The Barenboim version was recently released belatedly on DVD and I do intend to purchase it as soon as possible.  Jerusalem was always one of the most charismatic Heldentenors and his Siegfried for Barenboim was very special.  I do own Horst Stein's very fine version of Parsifal from Bayreuth on DVD with Jerusalem in the title role.  He really does seem to bring a kind of childlike innocence to the role.  Meier appears as Kundry in Nagano's version on DVD and she is an extremely powerful and vivid presence, which is just what you want with this extraordinary creation of Wagner's (indeed, in the operatic repertoire, only Debussy's Melisande comes close as a depiction of a wild and ultimately unknowable character - completely different repertoire, I know, but both characters are primal forces of nature, apparently beyond human understanding).

By the way, Jose, have you heard Marek Janowski's Parsifal on Pentatone? All of his Wagner recordings have been very well reviewed in recent years. I'm also curious about Simone Young's and Sebastian Weigle's Ring cycles on Oehms. Have you heard anything from their respective cycles?

I only bought the Janowski Flying Dutchman and the Lohengrin, and I was mighty disappointed with the Lohengrin, it´s just not very good. I had high hopes for it because I really like Klaus Florian Vogt, who next to Jonas Kaufmann are my current favourite Wagner tenors. Vogt sings very well, but everything else, including the conducting are not that good. Even the sound is not totally satisfactory, but so far I have heard good things of the Parsifal and the Tristan, maybe I´ll investigate them in the future.
I didn´t invest in the Simone Young Ring, but I did buy the Sebastian Weigle. Die Walküre is amazing, especially the white hot First Act with real husband and wife as the Völsung twins. The Frankfurt orchestra is very good, and the fact that it was recorded live in a relatively small theatre helps the singers a lot. Having said that, the other 3 operas are not as successful. Certainly a better Siegfried was needed, and the Brünnhilde is also found wanting in Götterdämmerung and in the awakening duet in Siegfried. I can only recommend Die Walküre, but if you decide to invest on it be warned that the other 3 are nowhere as enjoyable.
Another off main street Parsifal that I enjoyed a lot is Jaap van Zweden´s in the Challenge Classics label. There you can also hear Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role, his voice is rare, at first it sounds like a very lyrical instrument maybe not fit for Wagner, but when power is needed he somehow founds it and delivers the goods. The Kundry is also excellent, Katarina Dalayman, who made such a good impression in the Hallé Götterdämmerung. The Gurnemaz is Robert Holl, a former Bach specialist, and even though he was disappointing in Baremboim´s Meistersinger, here he is just fine. But best of all is the superb playing of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, an excellent orchestra, and van Zweden conducts a sure and expert performance. This Parsifal may not be in the Karajan or Knapertsbusch class, but it´s very, very good.

[fergus]

Look out for Gergiev's recent version on the Marinsky label, Fergus.  It is a truly exceptional reading of this most spiritual of Wagner's works.  Gergiev is not a noted Wagner interpreter by any means but this is a complete success.  He takes things very slowly, lingering and caressing each phrase.  

Thank you for your comments and suggestions Paul; they are much appreciated. I know very little of Wagner and his music but I must admit that Gergiev would not be a name that would come to mind when I would think of Wagner. I can see by your comments why his interpretation would sound very appropriate for this music. I also take Pepe's point that the different approach particularly in the brass could be very effective.

Among other versions, do not discount Solti's version.  There is more beauty in Karajan's conducting but it is always worthwhile listening to Solti for the passion and drama he can bring to the proceedings.

Duly noted and he was in my mind as I have his Ring and thoroughly enjoyed it!