Wagner: Parsifal Marek Janowski & Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

• 1 Act I - Prelude 11:36
• 2 Act I - He! Ho! Waldhuter ihr (Gurnemanz, First knight) 04:53
• 3 Act I - Seht dort, die wilde Reiterin (Squires, Knights, Kundry, Gurnemanz) 03:00
• 4 Act I - Recht so! Habt Dank! Ein wenig Rast (Amfortas) - Gawan! Herr! Gawan weilte nicht (Amfortas, Second Knight, Gurnemanz) 06:28
• 5 Act I - He! Du da! Was liegst du dort wie ein wildes Tier? (Squires, Gurnemanz, Kundry) 05:47
• 6 Act I - O wunden-wundervoller heiliger Speer (Gurnemanz, Squires) 03:21
• 7 Act I - Titurel, der fromme Held (Gurnemanz, Squires) 09:44
• 8 Act I - Weh! - Hoho! - Auf - Wer ist der Frevler (Squires, Knights, Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 06:40
• 9 Act I - Nun sag'! Nichts weisst du, was ich dich frage (Gurnemanz, Parsifal, Kundry) 06:40
• 10 Act I - Vom Bade kehrt der Konig heim (Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 01:45
• 11 Act I - Verwandlungsmusik 02:40
• 12 Act I - Nun achte wohl und lass mich seh'n (Gurnemanz) - Zum letzten Liebesmahle (Chorus) 06:25
• 13 Act I - Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt? (Titurel, Amfortas) 03:07
• 14 Act I - Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen (Amfortas, Chorus) 06:35
• 15 Act I - Enthullet den Gral! (Titurel, Chorus) - Nehmet hin mein Blut (Chorus, Titurel) 07:02
• 16 Act I - Wein und Brot des letzten Mahles (Chorus) 05:54
• 17 Act I - Departure of the Knights - Was stehst du noch da? (Gurnemanz, Voice from Above, Chorus) 05:09
• 18 Act II - Prelude - Die Zeit ist da (Klingsor) 05:45
• 19 Act II - Ach! Ach! Tiefe Nacht Wahnsinn! (Kundry, Klingsor) 07:11
• 20 Act II - Ho! Ihr Wachter! Ho! Ritter! (Klingsor) 03:19
• 21 Act II - Hier war das Tosen! (Flower Maidens, Parsifal) 03:43
• 22 Act II - Komm, holder Knabe! (Flower Maidens, Parsifal) 04:51
• 23 Act II - Parsifal! Weile! (Kundry, Parsifal, Flower Maidens) 02:48
• 24 Act II - Dies alles hab' ich nun getraumt? (Parsifal, Kundry) 03:15
• 25 Act II - Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust (Kundry) 04:59
• 26 Act II - Wehe! Was tat ich? Wo war ich? (Parsifal, Kundry) - Bekenntnis wird Schuld in Reue enden (Kundry) 05:09
• 27 Act II - Amfortas! Die Wunde! (Parsifal, Kundry) 06:44
• 28 Act II - Grausamer! Fuhlst du im Herzen (Kundry, Parsifal) - Ich sah ihn (Kundry, Parsifal) 10:46
• 29 Act II - Vergeh, unseliges Weib! (Parsifal, Kundry, Klingsor) 03:35
• 30 Act III - Prelude 04:24
• 31 Act III - Von dort her kam das Stohnen (Gurnemanz, Kundry) 07:59
• 32 Act III - Heil dir, mein Gast! (Gurnemanz) 06:13
• 33 Act III - Heil mir, dass ich dich wiederfinde! (Parsifal, Gurnemanz) 01:13
• 34 Act III - Zu ihm, des tiefe Klagen (Parsifal, Gurnemanz) 02:03
• 35 Act III - O Herr! War es ein Fluch (Gurnemanz) - Die heil'ge Speisung bleibt uns nun versagt (Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 06:00
• 36 Act III - Nicht so! Die heil'ge Quelle selbst (Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 04:02
• 37 Act III - Gesegnet sei, du Reiner, durch das Reine! (Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 04:42
• 38 Act III - Wie dunkt mir doch die Aue heut so schon! (Parsifal, Gurnemanz) 02:34
• 39 Act III - Du siehst, das ich nicht so (Gurnemanz, Parsifal) 06:03
• 40 Act III - Mittag - Die Stund' ist da (Gurnemanz) - Verwandlungsmusik 04:13
• 41 Act III - Geleiten wir im bergenden Schrein (Chorus) 03:31
• 42 Act III - Ja, wehe! Weh' uber mich (Amfortas, Chorus) 06:43
• 43 Act III - Nur eine Waffe taugt (Parsifal) 04:24
• 44 Act III - Hochsten Heiles Wunder! - Erlosung dem Erloser! 03:21
• Total Runtime 03:46:16

Info for Wagner: Parsifal

Marek Janowski has set himself the enormous task of recording all ten of the canonical Wagner operas in live performances with Berlin's Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. Presumably, the project will culminate in a complete Ring cycle, so the other operas are appearing out of chronological order. Parsifal, Wagner's final masterwork, is Janowski's third installment, and he has some unusual and provocative ideas about the piece. In this performance, the passage as the dead swan is taken away, midway in Act I, has a peculiarly intense expressiveness. It's as if Gurnemanz were already certain that Parsifal is the redeemer the knights are awaiting. The music for the transformation to the first Grail scene is brisk. It's almost showy, in fact, almost celebratory. The motif of anguish from the prelude is now subsumed into the waves of renewal. Thus Gurnemanz's anger at the end of the ceremony — 'You're nothing more than a fool' — makes particular sense. This may lead listeners to expect revelations when the ritual is repeated in Act III, but in the end Janowski lets us down. Even if we accept the odd interpretation of the Act III prelude (it's brisk, almost dizzy, and very vocal in phrasing — perhaps meant to portray Parsifal searching in a frantic way), the rest of the act doesn't cohere. It is action-packed from the start in Janowski's version, with no sense of gradual awakening, or of time having passed. Parsifal's final solo in the temple is not exalted or extended as Wagner asked; rather, it is invigorating and energetic. It seems not momentous but obligatory.

Timings by the clock are not very useful in accounting for the impression given by a performance. Yet it is worth noting that a live recording of the 1985 Bayreuth centennial production of Parsifal was released on the Philips label, and that Janowski comes very close to shaving an entire hour off of James Levine's interpretation on that occasion. If Janowski's version doesn't give the feeling of catharsis or ritual, perhaps we simply are not in the world of the Grail knights for a long enough spell. Janowski's Act II is also something of a misfire, given that the Flowermaidens are a severe, unalluring group, and that Janowski hasn't found the lilt, humor and playfulness in their music that this long opera needs at the midway point.

But there are compensations in the tremendous playing of the orchestra. The string sections are stocked with virtuosos. The violins are infallible even in the trickiest, quickest passages. There is a little four-note solo for muted violins in Act II that should be framed and hung in the Louvre. The principal clarinetist is so good that listeners are likely to hear previously unnoticed details in this performance. There is a peculiar, highly individual timbre in Parsifal when the massive string sections play fortissimo but with mutes. The effect has never before come off so successfully on recordings. A sensible but uncommon decision has been made to keep the duration of the second disc short, enabling each of the last two acts to fit fully on a single disc. Pentatone, which gave us the rare treat of the first act of Janowski's Meistersinger on a single disc, deserves gratitude for musical acuity.

There is one world-class performer among the singers. Evgeny Nikitin's Amfortas is truly sung. He has a sweet, rounded tone, and indeed some listeners may want more of an edge at first. But this is all the more effective when it suddenly occurs in the great cries of 'Erbarmen,' and the idea of a beautiful presence cut down in its prime is sad indeed. Christian Elsner's Parsifal is not youthful enough in tone for an audio-only performance, but he does understand the psychological progress of Act II. (The final line to Kundry, 'You know where you can find me again,' is sung with unusual gentleness.) But Elsner doesn't sound transformed at the end of the opera, and he is heard in an entirely different acoustical context from the other singers on this recording. The Gurnemanz, Franz-Josef Selig, is more comfortable in Act III than in Act I of this long role, but he comes into a real partnership with Janowski by the time they get to the Good Friday meadow. Michelle DeYoung's voice is too thick for Act II, in which her vocal coloration fails to reflect Kundry's psychological progress. Janowski sets up her solo 'Ich sah das kind' with naturalness, but she doesn't respond to the sickly, Viennese quality of muted strings and chromaticism. But in Act I she shows a wise, Erda-like low range, which is also effective when she doubles as the solo alto voice at the end of Act I. The recorded sound is refreshingly natural on the whole. One of the many aspects of Parsifal, written for Wagner's own theater at Bayreuth, is that it is a bravura series of acoustical experiments, and as a sonic engagement this recording is awe-inspiring. (William R. Braun, Opera News)

“It has spontaneity of something which has sunk so deeply into the performers' minds and souls that they can throw caution to the wind and still be accurate...Elsner is a wonderfully sensitive and expressive Parsifal...But the strongest performance of all is the Amfortas of Evgeny Nikitin...If Janowski's planned cycle...continues like this, it will unquestionably be the finest modern traversal on disc of Wagner's achievement.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“the first benefit that strikes the listener is the quality of the recorded sound... This is matched by a vivid performance from the orchestra, who have played Wagner brilliantly throughout this cycle so far...Selig is outstanding, anchoring the whole set with gravitas and weight. He sings not only with authority but with outstanding beauty...Nikitin is outstanding at evoking sympathy...DeYoung’s Kundry is outstanding because she gets inside both aspects of the role.” (MusicWeb International)

“Familiar tropes from previous concerts in this all-Wagner series resurface. Pacing is generally quite quick. Casting and characterisation are naturalistic, apparently written by Wagner. Gurnemanz (Selig) sounds like an inquisitive old squire rather than a retired Wotan waiting to unearth the secrets of the universe. Parsifal (Elsner) is a rough, innocent outsider instead of the chosen one in embryo.” (Gramophone)

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Marek Janowski, conductor

Evgeny Nikitin (Amfortas)
Christian Elsner (Parsifal)
Franz-Josef Selig (Gurnemanz)
Michelle DeYoung (Kundry/Stimme aus der Hohe)
Dimitry Ivaschenko (Titurel)
Eike Wilm Schulte (Klingsor)

No biography found.

Booklet for Wagner: Parsifal