Search - Richard Wagner, James Levine, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra :: Wagner: Parsifal

Let's not dwell in the past...

05/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I tend to get enraged when people criticize recordings because they do not match the yardsticks of the past. For example, someone in this page says that Levine's version is not worthy of attention because it is not comparable to what Hans Knappertsbusch used to do in the 1950's. Well, first of all, Knappertsbusch was also famous for his slow tempos and, second of all, if this person is referring to what Knappertsbusch actually recorded that's a problem. To be sure, many recording producers agreed upon the fact that Knappertsbusch was not really a studio conductor. Indeed his genius tended to arise only (by some sort of very mysterious reason) in live performances. But the problem here is not really the comparison between Levine and Knappertsbusch. The real problem is the tendency of some wagnerites to not let go a tradition that lies in the past and that is not going to come back (whether this is good or bad is another matter). This is not to say that Flagstad, Varnay, Nilsson, Melchior, Svanholm, Vinay, Hotter, Knappertsbusch and, many others, indeed set what can be deem as the ideal approach to Wagner. But, let's face it, they're all gone. We now have to live with the artists of our times and try to appreciate, in their own terms, what they have to offer us. So, there's Placido Domingo singing Parsifal. I first must confess that I'm not Domingo's ultimate fan. I tend to find difficult to digest his bolero-mariachi-tango-and-what-have-you cross-over stuff and, especially, the "Three Tenors" thing . But that does not go in the way of acknowledging that the man is a true phenomenon. And, after seeing and hearing him as Parsifal a few weeks ago at the Met, after he made me burst into tears on several occasions during that evening (the temptation scene with Urmana as Kundry...Oh, my goodness!), I have to say that I surrendered to Placido, the opera singer. Everything he does transpires such beauty and poetry. Every phrase is uttered with such meaning and emotion. Of course he is not a Heldentenor (and he does not have the slightest pretention of becoming one or sound like one) and his approach is basically an Italian one. He sings his Parsifal as he sings his Otello or his Radames. Such artistry is so rare and miraculous. Now, about Levine's approach to the score and, especially, his tempos. This is the way Levine conducts Wagner. You always have the sensation of extremely dense musical textures, of an inextinguishable aural vapor constantly flowing. The sensation is amazing. Isn't Parsifal a long, very long, quasi-mystical musical event? Isn't it an uninterrupted flow of music leading to redemption? It has to be played as if the music was coming from another world. Parsifal's music is primal, essential, as if all music was coming from there. I think Levine conveys all that. Perhaps this is not as striking on recording as it is in the opera house where, believe me, it's a miracle unfolding before your eyes. The man never looses his focus (for the whole almost six hours!) and grips the audience in such a way that people don't seem to move or even breathe. In sum, this comment is just an invitation to approach this recording in its own terms, just letting two of the foremost musicians of our time utter a statement of profound artistry and beauty."

The most wonderfully alive version out there

Grady Harp | 10/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To preface everything I say, I have to admit that this Wagner opera (along with Tristan) were for me the most boring theatrical experiences of my life. It took me years to appreciate either of them (I attended Tristan 5 times and never stayed awake once during it). However, Parsifal was the opera that took me the longest to enjoy. I find it simply does nothing for hours on end. The conflicts are so SLOW it is worse than watching a soap opera. In my desire to learn to appreciate this opera (I loved most all his other ones instantly, especially the Ring), I bought a number of recordings and borrowed others from the public library. Even then it took me a few years to get through the opera without becoming completely bored silly. And after all that work, I still was more than bored when I saw it in the theatre (and I went to the "Sacred Wagner Hall" to watch it; I was never more bored by his operas as I was in his festival house; they are immured in stone worse than dusty museum pieces by the "Wagner tradition" usually of very bad singing for the sake of the words, and during the long hours of nothing happening, there isn't even much to grab the eye). Through the years I have come to enjoy it to some degree, but it is still NOT my favorite Wagner opera. The reason I bought this recording was specifically because of Jessye Norman and Domingo. I enjoy what they do, so I figured maybe they have something to add that would make this work less boring and tedious. Well, they did. Firstly, James Levine, though he is not the quickest in tempo, did breathe life into the work (and I was never more bored than when I listened to Karajan conducting it -- so fussy with details the whole is lost). The singers approached the opera quite differently than all the singers I had listened to through the years -- it became a lyric work, rather than a declamatory one. That approach, no matter if it is GOOD Wagner or not, or even if it fits into the traditions of Wagner, made the work more approachable for me. I felt I was listening to real singing for a change, and not a sea of orchestra washing over some sceaming and yelling. I really care less if either of these two singers sings like the typical Heldentenore, or soprano, we are used to, for even Wagner himself never heard the kind of singer we hear today and associate with his music. He always sought for singers with good vocal production that sang Italian opera well and had excellent legato line. It was his wife, Cosima, who developed that "Bark" his music became noted for in an attempt to make the words clearer than the music, and often many great recordings of the past show just how off the pitch these performers could get, but since they were upholding tradition, it was too sacred to condemn. To those who love the opera, I am sure you have other singers you love better, as you fell in love with the work listening to them (and we all have troubles enjoying someone else when we come to love someone in a role), but for those of you who have not made up your mind, and written it in stone, this recording is very beautiful. Norman is very lovely in the role (which is often sang by a mezzo, or a soprano -- one usually dark when needed to be but screeching in dramatic moments, the other usually screeching all the time because her voice is not large enough for the score), and for a change we actually do hear caressing sounds most of the time, even in highly dramatic moments. Domingo is wonderful, and lyrical, which adds tremendously to the long, often uninteresting music he has to sing. The other singers are really good too, and they sing with a good feel for legato and musical line. That musicality, that lyrical quality, adds to this opera, and it is quite refreshing to finally hear it. Of all my recordings of this opera, this is the only one I will listen to, the others bore me silly. Even then, I can't listen to this opera in one sitting, I am still not to that point with this work. So, I would recommend this recording over most others out there simply because I can sit through it. I know that is not a ringing endorsement like so many others give, but it is a true one."

My most prized recording of all!

Arne Fagerholt | Norway | 04/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is in my opinion the perfect Parsifal! The casting is the ultimate; Jessye Norman?s Kundry, Domingo?s Parsifal, Kurt Moll?s Gurnemanz, Wlaschia?s Klingsor and perhaps the best of them all; James Morris?Amfortas!

On top of all this, add Levine?s conducting, yes, it IS slow, but never dragging or boring, frankly with this music it cannot last long enough!

This CD has the place of honour among my other recordings of Parsifal, by Solti and Knappertsbusch, and is the most precious music on my shelf altogether, thanks to everyone involved in preserving this ultimate Parsifal for the future to enjoy!"