An Inconvenient Parsifal: From Opera de Lyon 2012 to The Metropolitan Opera in New York 2013

Parsifal, Opéra National de Lyon, March 25 2012

François Girard ..... Director
Kazushi Ono ..... Conductor

Nikolai Schukoff ..... Parsifal
Elena Zhidkova ..... Kundry
Gerd Grochowski ..... Amfortas
Georg Zeppenfeld ..... Gurnemanz
Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester ..... Klingsor
Kurt Gysen ..... Titurel
Tehmine Yeghiazaryan ..... Flowermaiden 1
Ivi Karnezi ..... Flowermaiden 2
Katharina von Bülow ..... Esquire 2 / Flowermaiden 3
Heather Newhouse ..... Esquires 1 / Flowermaiden 4
Sonja Volten ..... Flowermaiden 5
Ulrike Helzel ..... Une voix / Flowermaiden 6
Daniel Kluge ..... Grail Knight 1
Lukas Schmid ..... Grail Knight 2
Olesiy Palchykov ..... Esquires 4
Pascal Pittie ..... Esquires 3


Orchestre, Chœurs et Maîtrise de l'Opéra de Lyon

La Monnaie Parsifal approaching fast

Very likely the most important Wagnerian event this year -- Parsifal, directed by Romeo Castellucci and conducted by Hartmut Haenchen-- should open in two days, Thursday January 27, at La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels.

Romeo is one of the artistically most fascinating theater directors today but he is a newbie when it comes to opera producing. Maestro Haenchen, on the other hand, is one of the very best Wagnerian conductors of our time, who in this configuration is also in charge of protecting the musical awesomeness of this opera. The antagonism is then easily generated which in fact --when properly tuned-- can be a booster to all creative spirits involved in this production.

We learned from three different sources that the creative process of mounting this production was indeed difficult. So difficult that the house's intendant --and infinitely cool-- Peter de Caluwe had to step in to remedy a few delicate situations, and to re-establish a good balance between theatrical and musical sides of the production.

Ah, passionate people exercising their passion... This Parsifal looks more and more promising to me [watch the birth of this production through a series of videos on La Monnaie website .]

I'll see the second show (next Sunday), and yes  I can't wait!


Below are some rehearsal photos [© ???], in addition to a text by Romeo Castellucci, written before the rehearsal process had begun. 

The best Wagnerian conductor of our time?

You may have already realized that I'm not into old recordings and stuff remastered beyond recognition. To me the audio recordings are there like old photos -- to bring back the memories of the most memorable shows I've seen.

With Wagner's operas the story is a little different.  Not that I indulge myself into listening to hundreds of hours of old recordings, but because it is interesting to figure out the evolution of styles and approaches to conducting this music over the past 5-6 decades. Once you do that exercise you soon realize the difficulties today's conductors conducting Wagner's music encounter in preparing their performance: they should make their sound 'right' yet refreshing, deliver a distinguishable sound with peculiar timings, and display a profound understanding of the score.

Of all the active conductors, Daniel Barenboim comes on the top. He was the only one able to make that special moment to happen to me, when music almost materializes and detaches from the orchestra. It happens with his Staatskapelle and only sometimes, but when it happens it's the sound that marks you for life.  All Wagner operas conducted by Barenboim are special to me, but his Tristan is likely to remain unbeatable for a long-long time.

Second best to me is Hartmut Haenchen. This year I listened to his Flying Dutchman in Amsterdam and it was magnificent. His Parsifal in Paris --a couple of years ago-- remains an unforgettable musical shock. His Ring, that you can find on DVD, is brilliant as well.

Then comes Christian Thielemann, whose Ring is really special. His Parsifal was interesting too but  not as brilliant as Haenchen's, or even Gatti's or Honeck's. 

Superb Parsifal in Stuttgart

Stuttgart, April 1, 2010

Johann Tilli, Christiane Iven and Andrew Richards

Director Calixto Bieito
Conductor Manfred Honeck

Gurnemanz Johann Tilli
Amfortas Gregg Baker
Parsifal Andrew Richards
Klingsor Claudio Otelli
Kundry Christiane Iven
Titurel Matthias Hölle
1. Gralsritter Heinz Göhrig
2. Gralsritter Mark Munkittrick
Vier Knappen Yuko Kakuta, Diana Haller, Torsten Hofmann, Hans Kittelmann
Blumenmädchen Julia Borchert, Petra van der Mieden, Tina Hörhold, Yuko Kakuta, Agata Wilewska, Michaela Schneider

No sausages at the Stuttgart's Staatsoper ;)

Compared to my previous trip to Stuttgart --where I saw the most unforgettable premiere of Der Rosenkavalier directed by Stefan Herheim-- this time the long intermissions were not all about sausages with mashed potatoes and cabbage. ;)

This time I went to see one more unforgettable show: Parsifal directed by Calixto Bieito. I'll post a short/personal report on the production later today. It already received so many --mainly positive-- reviews, and I feel like I have very little to add except for putting a few personal comments...

The opera is 5 hours long and since it starts at 5:30 pm, you need to eat something during the breaks. Instead of sausages they now serve potato salad with some spinach rolls, Bretzels, petits fours, and there is also Quiche: a (g)astronomical improvement for vegetarians and vegans such as Yours Truly!

Tonight la prima of Parsifal in Stuttgart, Dialogues des Carmélites in Munich, and Daphne in Frankfurt

On the website of the Staatsoper Stuttgart there is a short promotional video where his awesomeness, Calixto Bieito, talks about his take on this masterpiece-opera.

Parsifal for me is coming from poverty, no cultural education, and somebody is manipulating him to be a hero, to be a kind of Jesus Christ... and he's the new model of the society.

Watch out for Andrew Richards who's singing the title role in Stuttgart. He's got the potential to be as good as Christopher Ventris and Klaus Florian Vogt.

 Click on "Read more" to see a trailer for each of the three shows [Parsifal, Dialogues des Carmélites, and Daphne].