Amfortas - Ryan McKinny
Like many other productions by Pierre Audi, visual attraction prevails than a particular conceptual approach in his staging of Parsifal. The production is not always a plain narration of the tale, Amfortas resembles Christ's outfit at crucifixion particularly , but the symbolism is unclear when religious representations are not address. Audi does not make gesture with a theory after an answer or interpretation, but rather aim to impress with an elegant artistic viewing. Despite effective stage light schemes and beautiful set, dramaturgy is static at times that not always drawing out the inner emotions nor elevate an understanding of implicit messages. The casting of singers were well chosen and some minor roles exceeded expectation. The orchestra gradually improved its coordination and more balanced as the performance went.
Albrecht took a broad tempo for the prelude but too slow at times and not musically phrased in mind. On stage red lips shaped meteorite appeared on the screen of a night sky. One could not determine whether it had to do with the dripping blood later at the grail scene or an unfortunate sign of bloodshed in the sky. As the curtain went up, red lights flooded on the giant rocks and saw a dark figure covered in long hairs, assuming that was Kundry. A man in armour appeared at the grail theme and later recognised as Gurnemanz. He gazed sadly at the crosses on the debris in the ground when the orchestra reached the erotic theme of the prelude. Kundry reappeared from the rock and strolled around the stage, but collapsed after looking into the small flame on stage. Then the knights entered and monitored the squires whose producing crosses with scrap woods. Up to this point a mysterious impression was given but the connection between actions were unclear of intentions. Despite Groissböck probably suffering from a cold, he soldiered on and made a confident entry with a ringing tone in his singing and placed the words poetically. The fight between Kundry and the two knights were rather soft like a dance instead. Lang's lower vocal register had the projection and audible.
For the bath Amfortas appeared half naked but pushed to the ground when he tried to cling on Kundry. McKinny as a baritone had a bright timbre with good projection. The squires comprised of higher voices did not produce a rich sound compared to the knights, whose vocally had a fuller bodied tone and more dramatic in their singing. Gurnemanz's narration of the past, especially the mention of Amfortas being seduced, saw him starring at Kundry like a predator looking at his prey. Groissböck increased in dynamics to fill the hall with his vocal presence. He emphasised grail and spear especially to give more shape of the narration. However, the orchestra was sluggish that behind him sometimes and a prolong negotiation in momentum. The mention of grail saw squires hold up religious objects and the stage flooded in red again. Later they turned despaired when Amfortas was mentioned being wounded by Klingsor that triggered the downfall. The colour symbolism of stage lights seems more a functional reflection for the eyes than to realise the devastating consequence.
A crowd appeared when the swan shot by Parsifal dropped onto the stage. Their arrival would have been less sudden if accompany Amfortas to the bath earlier. The protagonist himself carried a staff than a bow, and sat on a rock when telling Gurnemanz of his past. Ventris carried a good projection in his singing but the voice did not possess the desired warmth. Lang was vocally underwhelming that lacking the weight and not dramatically done when Kundry mocked Parsifal of his past. He hesitated in killing her with a log and told her to return to sleep. The stage curtain returned at the transition of the grail revealing moment but lacked relation between scene changes. Orchestral playing would need to drive the momentum more for emotional impact, and parts lacked dialogue in their playing. In contrast, the offstage brass were more confident and accurate in their entries.
At the grail scene, quarry like structure erected at the back of the rocks with a bigger crowd congregated. The male chorus blended well together in a more homogeneous sound and minimal vibrato. Several elderly voices were noticeably stick out among the altos and covered voices employed by the sopranos. They watched Amfortas reluctantly to climb the steps for the ritual but stayed motionless. Titurel was a voice in the head instead and sang from off stage. The agony made Amfortas begged to be relieved of the pain at the centre stage, while Parsifal watched from the scaffolding above. Eventually the ritual was performed and Amfortas hold a long piece of white paper with blood dripping in the middle. Artistically it was a beautiful execution of the scene, also McKinny's nice body shape for eye candy, but not reflecting of Amfortas's agony from the ceremony. The men posed as repent and holding crosses in front while female voice parts sang steadily. A magnificent choral moment when the men sang of receiving courage from bread and wine majestically, but tuning in the sopranos' top notes were shaky. The scene change back to the rock setting lacked dramatic continuity when the stage curtain came down briefly. It was unclear whether the ceremony was an imagination or reflection when Parsifal and Gurnemanz were shown in the same spot as before the transition. The capture of moment received the attention than an ongoing relation to unfold the tale.
By comparison, staging of the second act was the highlight of the evening and probably one of the best I have experienced so far. The effects of lightning, smoke and soldiers alike Greek hoplites in Phalanx formation vividly realised the violent orchestral opening. The soldiers collapsed upon the entrance of Klingsor, who was carrying the spear. Vocally Everink delivered crystal clear diction and a rich voice that filled the hall with presence. His phrasing made the singing more dramatically engaged and intense, especially marking the pain of castration that Klingsor experienced. Then a circular metal mirror descended to create the colourful illusion. The flower maidens entered with covered face to mourn their fallen 'husbands' in the battle before revealing themselves with colourful outfits. The orchestral playing flowed better with momentum than sluggish along in the first act. Though one felt Albrecht hurried the tempo too much that dangerously lost coordination with the ensemble of flower maidens. They struggled to breathe and the built up was chaotic, even tuning was fine. There was also a strange acoustic moment in amplifying the singing when singers stood in front of the mirror.
The maidens disappeared when Kundry entered. Orchestra became more relaxing with the tempo in the tender and romantic passage. A small flame descended when Kundry revealed his past to Parsifal and reflected beautifully by its golden colour. It became an illusion between dream and reality to seduce his mind. Ventris was more comfortable in the lower vocal register with better phrasing and projection, but more wobble as he ascended the range. Lang portrayed Kundry as a seductive erotic figure even when she was recalling the motherly love to Parsifal. She was more legato in the lower vocal range even with her singing style was more covered. Tuning became less accurate as she ascended the vocal range and struggled to sustain the top notes.
Stage lights turned red when the two kissed, followed by a lone light reflecting on the mirror that Parsifal suddenly realised the temptation and rectified himself. Ventris sang passionately at the emotional outburst but the timbre lacked the warmth. Though the vibrato in tone reflected the vulnerability when Parsifal looked himself into the mirror. The salvation passage further exposed Ventri's timbre not at the best demonstration for being hard edged in colour. Lang was more secured in the high vocal register this time and brightened up the vowels more. She made a poignant reminder of Amfortas past, gradually built up the madness and furious for being rejected at the vocal climb. Top notes were shouted out and not all pleasant for the ears. Even so, she sustained the vocal energy up to calling for revenge when Klingsor appeared with the spears. A dramatic ending with the stage smoke returned and the mirror sunk into the mist. Klingsor collapsed after the spear broke into half and Parsifal disappeared opposite of Kundry.
In terms of stage set, third act was the least elaborate and close to a plain narration in the first half. Dimmed stage with dark blue colour and Gurnemanz appeared in a long white gown while Kundry lied on the ground. A large hanging white panel at the rear with a hole in the middle. It seems more as a visual representation than resembling the female sexual organ since no erotic gesture was given. The orchestral introduction did not flow naturally, and not able to make the devastating impact in depicting the struggle of redemption. Parsifal reappeared from the side of the panel with helmet and spear. Gurnemanz only recognised him when Parsifal took them off and left on the ground. He prayed at the holy objects and gave an emotional telling of the decaying organisation. Ventris sang with more legato and in a relaxing tone, but the hard edged vocal colour was still noticeable. Groissböck was coughing a lot, but he carried on to phrase the singing poetically and brought out the emotions. A water spring appeared and Parsifal was visibly moved when Gurnemanz acknowledged him as king. Both Kundry and Gurnemanz drank from the spring, but the symbols of cleansing and purification were not dealt with than a ritual. The orchestra played the tender meadow theme beautifully and one felt very moved by the music when Gurnemanz told the joy of redemption. The hole changed to green colour when the grace would be felt by all was sung while the panel slowly shifted to the centre.
As the bell tolled, Amfortas led the men to congregate before the darkened stage for Titurel's funeral. The choral singing became the voice in head and they demanded the ritual to be performed by pointing at Amfortas. The hole turned black as Amfortas blamed himself but the crowd was more fearful when he refused to do anymore. When Parsifal touched him with the spear he collapsed and the mirror reappeared like a shining white plate. Strangely the crowd also fell to ground except Gurnemanz and the smoke mist made a mysterious ending. Audi seems perceived not only Klingsor the evil one, but also Titurel and the knights demanded for bloody and torturing ritual. The mirror became the object of morality. Though the development was rather sudden than a gradual development leading to the outcome. Musically the male chorus gave a muscular and projected wall of sound for a devastating lamentation, but sopranos remained vibrato heavy in the supposedly heavenly conclusion. Only the orchestra produced an enchanting Good Friday music to round off the enigmatic end.
(Photo credit: The website of Dutch National Opera)
Titurel - Bjarni Thor Kristinsson
Gurnemanz - Günther Groissböck
Parsifal - Christopher Ventris
Klingsor - Bastiaan Everink
Kundry - Petra Lang
Grail knights - Marcel Reijans, Roger Smeets
Grail knights - Marcel Reijans, Roger Smeets
Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor
Koor van De Nationale Opera
Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest
Marc Albrecht (Conductor)
Pierre Audi (Director)
Albrecht took a broad tempo for the prelude but too slow at times and not musically phrased in mind. On stage red lips shaped meteorite appeared on the screen of a night sky. One could not determine whether it had to do with the dripping blood later at the grail scene or an unfortunate sign of bloodshed in the sky. As the curtain went up, red lights flooded on the giant rocks and saw a dark figure covered in long hairs, assuming that was Kundry. A man in armour appeared at the grail theme and later recognised as Gurnemanz. He gazed sadly at the crosses on the debris in the ground when the orchestra reached the erotic theme of the prelude. Kundry reappeared from the rock and strolled around the stage, but collapsed after looking into the small flame on stage. Then the knights entered and monitored the squires whose producing crosses with scrap woods. Up to this point a mysterious impression was given but the connection between actions were unclear of intentions. Despite Groissböck probably suffering from a cold, he soldiered on and made a confident entry with a ringing tone in his singing and placed the words poetically. The fight between Kundry and the two knights were rather soft like a dance instead. Lang's lower vocal register had the projection and audible.
For the bath Amfortas appeared half naked but pushed to the ground when he tried to cling on Kundry. McKinny as a baritone had a bright timbre with good projection. The squires comprised of higher voices did not produce a rich sound compared to the knights, whose vocally had a fuller bodied tone and more dramatic in their singing. Gurnemanz's narration of the past, especially the mention of Amfortas being seduced, saw him starring at Kundry like a predator looking at his prey. Groissböck increased in dynamics to fill the hall with his vocal presence. He emphasised grail and spear especially to give more shape of the narration. However, the orchestra was sluggish that behind him sometimes and a prolong negotiation in momentum. The mention of grail saw squires hold up religious objects and the stage flooded in red again. Later they turned despaired when Amfortas was mentioned being wounded by Klingsor that triggered the downfall. The colour symbolism of stage lights seems more a functional reflection for the eyes than to realise the devastating consequence.
A crowd appeared when the swan shot by Parsifal dropped onto the stage. Their arrival would have been less sudden if accompany Amfortas to the bath earlier. The protagonist himself carried a staff than a bow, and sat on a rock when telling Gurnemanz of his past. Ventris carried a good projection in his singing but the voice did not possess the desired warmth. Lang was vocally underwhelming that lacking the weight and not dramatically done when Kundry mocked Parsifal of his past. He hesitated in killing her with a log and told her to return to sleep. The stage curtain returned at the transition of the grail revealing moment but lacked relation between scene changes. Orchestral playing would need to drive the momentum more for emotional impact, and parts lacked dialogue in their playing. In contrast, the offstage brass were more confident and accurate in their entries.
At the grail scene, quarry like structure erected at the back of the rocks with a bigger crowd congregated. The male chorus blended well together in a more homogeneous sound and minimal vibrato. Several elderly voices were noticeably stick out among the altos and covered voices employed by the sopranos. They watched Amfortas reluctantly to climb the steps for the ritual but stayed motionless. Titurel was a voice in the head instead and sang from off stage. The agony made Amfortas begged to be relieved of the pain at the centre stage, while Parsifal watched from the scaffolding above. Eventually the ritual was performed and Amfortas hold a long piece of white paper with blood dripping in the middle. Artistically it was a beautiful execution of the scene, also McKinny's nice body shape for eye candy, but not reflecting of Amfortas's agony from the ceremony. The men posed as repent and holding crosses in front while female voice parts sang steadily. A magnificent choral moment when the men sang of receiving courage from bread and wine majestically, but tuning in the sopranos' top notes were shaky. The scene change back to the rock setting lacked dramatic continuity when the stage curtain came down briefly. It was unclear whether the ceremony was an imagination or reflection when Parsifal and Gurnemanz were shown in the same spot as before the transition. The capture of moment received the attention than an ongoing relation to unfold the tale.
By comparison, staging of the second act was the highlight of the evening and probably one of the best I have experienced so far. The effects of lightning, smoke and soldiers alike Greek hoplites in Phalanx formation vividly realised the violent orchestral opening. The soldiers collapsed upon the entrance of Klingsor, who was carrying the spear. Vocally Everink delivered crystal clear diction and a rich voice that filled the hall with presence. His phrasing made the singing more dramatically engaged and intense, especially marking the pain of castration that Klingsor experienced. Then a circular metal mirror descended to create the colourful illusion. The flower maidens entered with covered face to mourn their fallen 'husbands' in the battle before revealing themselves with colourful outfits. The orchestral playing flowed better with momentum than sluggish along in the first act. Though one felt Albrecht hurried the tempo too much that dangerously lost coordination with the ensemble of flower maidens. They struggled to breathe and the built up was chaotic, even tuning was fine. There was also a strange acoustic moment in amplifying the singing when singers stood in front of the mirror.
The maidens disappeared when Kundry entered. Orchestra became more relaxing with the tempo in the tender and romantic passage. A small flame descended when Kundry revealed his past to Parsifal and reflected beautifully by its golden colour. It became an illusion between dream and reality to seduce his mind. Ventris was more comfortable in the lower vocal register with better phrasing and projection, but more wobble as he ascended the range. Lang portrayed Kundry as a seductive erotic figure even when she was recalling the motherly love to Parsifal. She was more legato in the lower vocal range even with her singing style was more covered. Tuning became less accurate as she ascended the vocal range and struggled to sustain the top notes.
Stage lights turned red when the two kissed, followed by a lone light reflecting on the mirror that Parsifal suddenly realised the temptation and rectified himself. Ventris sang passionately at the emotional outburst but the timbre lacked the warmth. Though the vibrato in tone reflected the vulnerability when Parsifal looked himself into the mirror. The salvation passage further exposed Ventri's timbre not at the best demonstration for being hard edged in colour. Lang was more secured in the high vocal register this time and brightened up the vowels more. She made a poignant reminder of Amfortas past, gradually built up the madness and furious for being rejected at the vocal climb. Top notes were shouted out and not all pleasant for the ears. Even so, she sustained the vocal energy up to calling for revenge when Klingsor appeared with the spears. A dramatic ending with the stage smoke returned and the mirror sunk into the mist. Klingsor collapsed after the spear broke into half and Parsifal disappeared opposite of Kundry.
In terms of stage set, third act was the least elaborate and close to a plain narration in the first half. Dimmed stage with dark blue colour and Gurnemanz appeared in a long white gown while Kundry lied on the ground. A large hanging white panel at the rear with a hole in the middle. It seems more as a visual representation than resembling the female sexual organ since no erotic gesture was given. The orchestral introduction did not flow naturally, and not able to make the devastating impact in depicting the struggle of redemption. Parsifal reappeared from the side of the panel with helmet and spear. Gurnemanz only recognised him when Parsifal took them off and left on the ground. He prayed at the holy objects and gave an emotional telling of the decaying organisation. Ventris sang with more legato and in a relaxing tone, but the hard edged vocal colour was still noticeable. Groissböck was coughing a lot, but he carried on to phrase the singing poetically and brought out the emotions. A water spring appeared and Parsifal was visibly moved when Gurnemanz acknowledged him as king. Both Kundry and Gurnemanz drank from the spring, but the symbols of cleansing and purification were not dealt with than a ritual. The orchestra played the tender meadow theme beautifully and one felt very moved by the music when Gurnemanz told the joy of redemption. The hole changed to green colour when the grace would be felt by all was sung while the panel slowly shifted to the centre.
As the bell tolled, Amfortas led the men to congregate before the darkened stage for Titurel's funeral. The choral singing became the voice in head and they demanded the ritual to be performed by pointing at Amfortas. The hole turned black as Amfortas blamed himself but the crowd was more fearful when he refused to do anymore. When Parsifal touched him with the spear he collapsed and the mirror reappeared like a shining white plate. Strangely the crowd also fell to ground except Gurnemanz and the smoke mist made a mysterious ending. Audi seems perceived not only Klingsor the evil one, but also Titurel and the knights demanded for bloody and torturing ritual. The mirror became the object of morality. Though the development was rather sudden than a gradual development leading to the outcome. Musically the male chorus gave a muscular and projected wall of sound for a devastating lamentation, but sopranos remained vibrato heavy in the supposedly heavenly conclusion. Only the orchestra produced an enchanting Good Friday music to round off the enigmatic end.
(Photo credit: The website of Dutch National Opera)
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