Parsifal at Münchner Opernfestspiele
July 21, 2024
* Notes *
An excellent revival of Parsifal (ovation pictured, photograph by author) opened at Münchner Opernfestspiele yesterday evening. Musically, it was the best Parsifal I have heard live, the orchestra sounded splendid and the singers were all great.
Maestro Adam Fischer lead the orchestra with verve, starting off the Vorspiel in a stately manner and building from there. The sound was very full and could be felt in one's whole body. The brass was clear, the timpani ecstatic, and the harps exquisite.
Pierre Audi's 2018 production is serviceable. Act I featured a forest, Act II had a curtain downstage and a cloth backdrop mid-stage with a big gash in the middle, and Act III was the forest upside-down, which was effective. There is a lot of imagery around flaccid, aging bodies, on screens and curtains, and depicted in the chorus, whose members wore padded bodysuits to appear naked in Act I Scene 2 and Act II Scene 2.
The chorus sang beautifully and together. The principal cast was also uniform and strong. Baritone Jochen Schmeckenbecher's Klingsor was menacing, while bass-baritone Gerald Finley conveyed painfully exhaustion as Amfortas. Bass Tareq Nazmi sang a sympathetic and robust Gurnemanz.
Tenor Clay Hilley gave a solid performance as Parsifal, though his stage presence is a bit wooden. His voice cuts through the orchestra and is quite loud. Soprano Nina Stemme makes for an intense Kundry, she seems to really be inside the character, and draws the audience in as well. The resonance of her sound is penetrating but never harsh. Act II was the highlight of the night because of her, to be sure.
* Tattling *
It was a relief to be at a Wagner performance in Germany, as the audience is serious and engaged. Unfortunately two cellular phones rang during the Vorspiel and there was some clapping after Act I.
The person next to us in the Balkon, Reihe 1 Platz 5 was cheerful and joked with us before curtain, but fell asleep during Act I. He had the good sense to leave at the second intermission.
Gerald Finley was named a Bayerischer Kammersänger after the performance and addressed his colleagues and the audience in German. He thanked many people, including his wife and family, and mentioned the wisdom he received from Edita Gruberová about performing on this stage.