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The Spectator, 9 March 2013 |
Michael Tanner |
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Wagner: Parsifal, Metropolitan Opera, 2 March 2013 |
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Parsifal - Live from the Met
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I went to the Met’s relay of Parsifal with very high hopes indeed, which
were extensively dashed: though my highest hope, Jonas Kaufmann’s
Parsifal, exceeded all my expectations. He gave the most moving, most
complete, deeply felt and staggeringly sung account of the role that I have
ever seen or heard. The trouble was that his performance was, for
the most part, in a context which failed to measure up to it: thus the long
scene between Parsifal and Kundry in Act II, in which she tries all
conceivable means of seducing him, in one of Wagner’s most psychologically
astute and demanding exchanges, was wrecked by the unseductiveness of
Katarina Dalayman, unbecomingly dressed and vocally stretched beyond her
limits. Their scene followed the least sexy, least sensual Flower Maidens’
episode, not even those shameless key-changes carrying a remote erotic
charge.
Depression set in early on, when the curtain rose to show a
line of — would you believe it? — men in business suits. They took off their
ties and jackets, and remained on the set throughout the whole of Act I,
undermining the first stage of Parsifal’s pilgrimage, which involves moving
from the lands of the Grail into the temple, where he encounters the knights
for the first time. The only hints of Nature in the production are the
impressive cloudscape, and some astronomical objects that loom into sight at
crucial points. Besides the men in suits, there is a huddle of women on the
other side of the stage, hard to guess who or why.
Apart from
Kaufmann, the finest singing and acting comes from Peter Mattei as Amfortas,
as graphic a portrayal as I’ve seen of his spiritual and physical agony, and
sung with wonderfully full tone. That is just what René Pape lacks. His
Gurnemanz is, alas, the traditional windy bore, where a succession of great
basses has shown us how wonderful a role it can be. Pape seems to consider
acting as supererogatory, too. I had hopes of Daniele Gatti’s conducting,
but they didn’t survive the Prelude. The orchestral sound was mainly
subdued, undetailed, above all lacking the long line.
Despite which:
Act III was almost the great experience it should be. Parsifal
entered in a state of seemingly terminal collapse, slowly revived thanks to
Kundry’s silent ministrations (beautifully acted by Dalayman), and took
command with calm and noble dignity when anointed by Gurnemanz. His entry in
the final scene was exalted, ecstatic, and finally that exaltation, which
should be implicit throughout Parsifal, was conveyed to the audience.
Perhaps if the rest of the performance had been on that level it would have
been unbearable.
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