Recordings Review: The Blood is the Life

The Met broadcast of Parsifal on DVD
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The kiss of life-and death. Katherine Dalayman is atop Jonas Kaufmann in the Met's Parsifal.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013 François Girard production of Wagner's Parsifal is back on the stage next month. So it's time to revisit the Sony DVDs of the Live in HD broadcast of the opera, filmed over two performances in March of that year. Watched here on two DVDs, this Parsifal remains gripping, a look back at this forward-thinking production which owes something to post-apocalyptic environmental disaster and something to an involved medical procedure show from late-night broadcast television.

Opera Review: The Trumpet of the Swan

Parsifal at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hunting license: Gurnemanz (Kwangchal Youn) confiscates Parsifal's (Paul Groves) bow  in Act I of
Parsifal, as Kundry (Daveda Karanas) looks off. Photo by Todd Rosenberg © 2013 Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Parsifal (by director John Caird, making his house debut) is at once modern and old-fashioned, re-imagining Wagner's medieval iconography (Spear, Grail, magic garden) in a way that makes sense to a modern audience and still respects the rich stage history of this opera at Bayreuth and elsewhere. Mr. Caird's production uses six principal dancers (the choreographer is Tim Claydon) to create a vision of flying swans, woodland creatures (Kundry arrives by anthropomorphic horseback) and more movement than one usually sees in this static opera. The results are emotionally satisfying and magical, and familiar enough to please even the most conservative Wagnerite.

Opera Review: Changing of the Guardians

Parsifal at the Met: Redux.
By Paul J. Pelkonen

My man Gurnemanz. Rene Pape (left) dresses Jonas Kaufmann in Act III of Wagner's Parsifal.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Wagner’s Parsifal went through its first changes in personnel on Tuesday night. This was the first of two performances to be led by Israeli conductor Ascher Fisch, who is well known for his Wagner performances at the Seattle Opera.. There was also a substitution in the role of Kundry, with mezzo-soprano Michaela Martens stepping in for an indisposed Katerina Dalayman.

Live Broadcast Review: Reigning in Blood

The Met's Live in HD broadcast of Parsifal.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Blood mage: Evgeny Nikitin is Klingsor in the Met's new Parsifal.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

Peter Gelb's term as general manager of the Metropolitan Opera has focused around two key initiatives: the introduction of new stagings to replace the fusty extravaganzas of the past, and the popular Met Live in HD series, beaming Met productions around the globe ten times per season.

On Saturday afternoon, those two initiatives merged in the company’s Live in HD broadcast of Parsifal, seen here in a compelling new production by director François Girard. This stark show shone in a broadcast that featured an all-star cast. Multiple cameras recorded the fine details of this director’s vision, revealing small but important visual elements that may not be readily apparent in the vastness of the Met. The performance was enhanced by intermission interviews (hosted by bass Eric Owens) with most of the principal cast, conductor Daniele Gatti and Mr. Girard.

Opera Review: The Precious Cure

The "new" Met finally gets Wagner right.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Blood simple: Parsifal (Jonas Kaufmann) encounters
Kundry (Katherine Dalayman) in Act II of Wagner's Parsifal.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

There are any number of ways to interpret François Girard's new production of Wagner's Parsifal, seen Monday afternoon and evening at the Metropolitan Opera. One argument is environmental: the Knights of the Holy Grail are holding on to a precarious existence in a barren wasteland, having suffered the misfortune of their king Amfortas' injury. These knights spend all their time in what looks like an encounter group, hunched on black plastic chairs on one side of the stage. The female chorus is shrouded in black, segregated from the men. In Act III, the landscape has become a graveyard.

Recordings Review: I Pity the Fool

Marek Janowski's 2011 Berlin Parsifal.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Parsifal and Kundry as painted by Rogellio de Egusquiza.

This is a live recording of Wagner's Parsifal made on April 8, 2011 before an audience at a single Berlin concert. in a single Berlin concert. It is the third entry in Marek Janowski's ambitious plan to record and release all ten Wagner operas on PentaTone, an independent German label (distributed by Naxos) that specializes in multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CDs. It falls among recordings like Pierre Boulez' and Herbert Kegel's that favor a lean and mean approach to presenting Wagner's final opera.