Review - Parsifal (Wagner), Dutch National Opera, 25 December 2016

Amfortas - Ryan McKinny

Titurel - Bjarni Thor Kristinsson

Gurnemanz - Günther Groissböck

Parsifal - Christopher Ventris

Klingsor - Bastiaan Everink

Kundry - Petra Lang
Grail knights - Marcel Reijans, Roger Smeets

Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor

Koor van De Nationale Opera

Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest

Marc Albrecht (Conductor)

Pierre Audi (Director)

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)

Review - Parsifal (Wagner), Teatro Real Madrid, 18 April 2016 & 21 April 2016

Gurnemanz - Franz-Josef Selig
Parsifal - Klaus Florian Vogt
Kundry - Anja Kampe
Amfortas - Detlef Roth
Klingsor - Evgeny Nikitin
Titurel - Ante Jerkunica
Bailarín - Joaquín Fernández

Coro y Orquesta Titulares del Teatro Real
Director - Claus Guth
Conductor - Semyon Bychkov

I had chosen to see the performances of Parsifal in Madrid twice not only because of the attractive casting, but a second viewing was essential for a thorough understanding of Claus Guth's insightful staging. My past experience of Guth's stagings of Der Rosenkavalier for Frankfurt opera and Fidelio at Salzburg Festival not always straight forward at first viewing. It took some time to digest and think on the directorial approach to make sense of the underlying messages and intentions. Although Guth's staging of Parsifal visually not always a beauty for the eyes, the interpretation seems conventional in sight but always there is a twist. Inevitably three debatable questions arose from discussions with my friends, which whether the directorial approach suggesting the work itself was religiously symbolic in the context of Christianity, the relationship between Amfortas and Klingsor a family one or brotherhood within an institution, why Amfortas struggled or even refused to perform the holy ritual and only Parsifal became the redeemer. The work itself had created endless interpretations but this review would address Guth's approach in context than making other assumptions, otherwise it would lose the focus and fail from a logical reflection.

Instead of a castle surrounding, the first act was set in a hospital for wounded soldiers, a reference to act three mentioning the casualties of wars. Guth's trademark of stage turntable showed us a reception area with staircase, another room in two floors and the other a large hall with balcony. Each section of the space has its defined purpose and points of actions. The messages were clear in scenes and circular movements of the turntable made a statement. The reception was on purposefully to be bleak and unwelcoming. Its purpose was what triggered off the story development, often the platform for Gurnemanz's narration of the past and preaching his thoughts. The hall was a display of members and large scene in scale.

The room separated in two half was most interesting with cases of the holy spear and grail on the upper level, in contrast to ground level where all woes and wrongdoings happened. Symbolically it associated with the paradigm of upper room: the last supper, washing of the feets, resurrection and Pentecost, which centred on the christian core belief in redemption of sins through the death and resurrection sequence of Christ. The room was not only for storage and display of mystical wonder, but importantly presenting the causes of what went wrong inside the institution among its leadership, and the pains Amfortas suffered from performing the ritual that supposedly to save the knights from destruction. The absence of either the holy item would bring harm by its power than doing good.

Gurnemanz's narration in first act saw Kundry being hapless to heal nor improve the situation. Even the herbs she brought from Arabia would only relieve Amfortas's sufferings but not improving. The scene of holy bath was not shown but one could assume nothing extraordinary. She was also trapped by her loyalties to both evils and goods. She saw the decline but ironically brought the destruction upon the Knights on behalf of Klingsor, as revenge on being treated unfairly by Titurel. Her seduction of Amfortas made him weak in flesh even as lord of lineage to the supposed powerful keeper of the sacred vessels. It was no wonder she laughed sarcastically by seeing wounded soldiers suffered on bed and the falling was destined as no one could prevent the destruction of themselves. Interestingly the doctors and nurses were supposedly to heal and care for the suffering ones, but their blind following of orders and rules indirectly accelerate the destruction.

I thought by portraying Gurnemanz as a ordained Christian priest was an indirect statement from Guth, which suggesting dated beliefs and ritualistic performance of the church were ineffective to renew this organisation. Forcing soldiers to sing hymns, falling to their knees to pray and worshipping were seen as abstract and alien, neither to inspire the members where they should be going forward to. He also did not prevent other soldiers nor the medical staffs to bully the dancer, who represented the pains and agony suffered by Amfortas by physical expression in movements. It was as the character just an ordinary soldier driven to madness by wounds from war, but we as spectator understood who he was portraying in actual.

Various approaches differed on who demanded Amfortas to perform the ritual and its purpose. For example from Munich, the Konwitschny's production saw the knights blaming Amfortas for not able to revive the tree of life and the life in bunker. The recent Viennese version saw a frantic male religious organisation put women and children as sacrificial prisoners in the dark dungeon but Amfortas was a character to perform. Guth saw differently by emphasising the role of Titurel more important than the other two. In reference to the close relation between the old King and Klingsor, the extra scene during the playing of prelude we saw Klingsor was visibly upset and crushed the wine glass when Titurel favoured Amfortas over a meal. Later the old king created the suffering by forcing Amfortas to perform the tortuous ceremony and opened his wounds for the supposed blood for eucharist. The ritual was an obsession/madness for desire than any miracle for the fragile souls and body.

I felt Parsifal's silence response to Gurnemanz's demand of answer was not foolish or incapable here, but shocked by the awfulness of the cruel ritual as witness. Amfortas desired for death to release himself from the burden made the point someone else would need another way to become a redeemer to bring upon the salvation. Parsifal understood to save the organisation from deterioration was to experience the sufferings and conquered the temptations. The holy tools were to be united for its divine power and he himself by experiencing holy wars would be one answer, just as Christ went to test in the wilderness for forty days and resisting temptations.

Though whether Parsifal acts as a copy of Christ's death and resurrection for redemption was not the the point Guth probably felt on the composer's objective in creating work. Salvation here was not at all spiritual but rather a management rescue process. Also to become the redeemer of a new belief it required three core elements: knowing his actual background and released himself from the past, which Kundry nor Amfortas failed to do so as they were trapped by the situation; the mentioned task to unite the holy tools but not using to wield power in wars and a physical endurance to overcome at hard condition; also the ability to resist physical and emotional affections.

Nowhere was the last point being mentioned as a sin, but love would not help the leader to stay strong and protect the institution from decay, which was a direct response to the ring cycle that Siegfried and Brunnhilde brought the downfall of gods than saving it. Thus, Parsifal would need to experience by resisting the temptation of falling in love with Kundry and remain celibacy for purity in order to become the redeemer. Instead of a colourful garden, Guth set act two like a ball in the fashion of Edwardian era. The realism made an intimate setting for the flower maidens and Kundry with flamboyant outlooks to keep the men falling under their spells. It was not a demonstration for lust or physical satisfaction, but guiding us through the process to search the purpose and role for the protagonist. Despite Parsifal and Kundry had moments of intense affections, in the end he realised it would require himself to release everyone from their agony by going one step forward than enjoying the earthly satisfaction.

Act three then presented the ultimate vision of what Guth felt the composer was experimenting with his philosophical construction for the new religion. Resisting the temptation of affection did not mean a total rejection of companionship. Parsifal had the silenced Kundry cleansed with water from the holy fountain after he received it from Gurnemanz. The baptism was a symbolic moment that a new way was found and received to transform the deserted hospital in a dilapidated state, which Gurnemanz still guarding for the foretold restoration and the expected new leader. Kundry in return cleaned Parsifal's feet with hair and rubbed with oil. While he blamed himself for their sufferings, he recovered the insane soldiers to sanity and stopped their agony. The implicit biblical references to the acts of Mary Magdalene at last supper and performance of miracles by Christ reinforced the argument that Guth saw the composer the biblical reference to construct his belief/new religion from the core Christian beliefs. One could not separate the two as it was the basis which Wagner built his theory on before evolving into a new ideology. Though the materials might be similiar but one could feel the difference in which two ideology develop.

The whole institution lost its direction and driven to illogical madness at Titurel's death and his funeral. The crowd themselves now demanding Amfortas the performance of the ritual, who would prefer dying to relieve his suffering instead, and thought it would save them all as the mad king thought. The entry of Parsifal with holy spear came to an unexpected development as result. It was odd and unexpected when Guth portrayed the protagonist to become the new military leader of the institute, a respond to Parsifal asking to be crowded king of all. The soldiers recovered from their wartime shadow, strengthened, atmospherically proud and glorified the renewed military might. Perhaps it was on purpose that we should feel uncomfortable by what perceived as an outcome, in parallel towards the end of First World War that celebration came first than a sorrow remembrance. We would find it politically incorrect for our time but one should be mindful back then it was the norm. The development was logical within the historical time frame and nothing shocking. Guth seems suggesting Wagner's search to construct his new religion actually a dangerous idea at the end, and in broad religion itself would create problematic idea like nationalism. We were also left with the open question as whether Klingsor and Amfortas, as they sat next to each other in the end, reconciled on what relation level? Could now Parsifal restore the glory or it was only the end of everything?



Musically in general the Thursday performance was better than Monday in terms of coordination and tempo. Semyon Bychkov knew better how to conduct the work than the disastrous performance of Beethoven fourth symphony I experienced in Rome few years ago. There were enough space in the playing that neither hurried or too slow. The Teatro Real orchestra could produce a magnificent sound particularly during climatic tutti moments with choral singing. Act two was most satisfactory by keeping a good momentum in shaping the music but sluggish sometimes in other two acts. That was probably why I felt the playing not always making the emotional impact despite refined playing. Board tempo was not a problem for this work but it needed some direction than suspending too much. There were also two obvious slips on Thursday with a cello entered too early after a fermata and the brass playing wrong notes in act one. Despite the mistakes, the hall acoustic should be credited for a good sound balance, which the orchestral sound never drowned out the singer and neither the singers had to be forceful with volumes.

I was not as critical as my friends about Detlef Roth's Amfortas that vocally he was capable and pleasant for ears despite losing some focus with phrasing towards the end  probably due to tiredness. Ante Jerkunica made an impression as Titurel not only because of the role emphasis more in Guth's staying, but also his voice delivered the impact of a rich sound filling the hall very well. Franz-Josef Selig might not be the most radiant Gurnemanz I heard so far because of his timbre not always had the warmth nor rich, nonetheless, he phrased the singing line in a good shape. Klaus Florian Vogt's Parsifal was probably the best available tenor at the moment that the tenderness and legato in his timbre still maintained the vocal presence and a wonderful sense with phrasing. He also did not have problem with the words for those who remembered him struggled with the prize song in Der Meistersinger from Staatsoper Berlin last year. Evgeny Nikitin was again vocally an underwhelming experience that he sang beautifully but lacked the projection like the rest. Anja Kempe was so far the better sung Kundry I heard so far in live. She had a healthy voice and could be beautiful from time to time. Her tessitura was more secured to nail the high notes at the dramatic moment in second act on Thursday than Monday. It seems Bychkov had adopted a quicker tempo to accommodate those texting and challenging vocal passages. The female vocal ensemble delivered probably the best sung version of flower maidens scene in my memory. Individual voices complemented each other very much and technically all capable without slips or making any ugly sound. The male chorus delivered a better sound of wall on Thursday than Monday. The German diction was clearly understood and maintained good intonation throughout. On Monday the amplification of female choral singing was problematic by being too loud and imbalance with the live singing. Intonation on high vocal registers were better though compare to Thursday which often went flat noticeably. In sum, very fine performances of Parsifal from Teatro Real that musically more even together with a well matched vocal cast.