Search - Wagner, Modl, Von Rohr :: Wagner: Parsifal

Parsifal from Paris? It's rather good, too

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/13/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The earlier reviewer jumps off the cliff for this unusual Parsifal, performed at the Paris Opera with exactly the kind of cast one would have heard at Bayreuth in the early to mid-Fifties. The mono sound is quite good, although there is stage noise, audience coughing, and occasional imbalances, as when the harp jumps out at you. I won't provide a full review, but for those who hope this might be some kind of ideal Parsifal, far form it. Windgassen and Modl are in fine form, but Leitner is prosaic in the big climaxes. There's an overall thrust to his conducting that is fairly exciting, but little in the way of finesse, and one can hear that the French orchestra doesn't quite "get" Wagner. The singers are led into some fairly dull singing when Leitner loses concentration. The great climax that ends the opera is quite underwhelming, also, and during the last chord there's a great crash and bang onstage.



I could overlook most of this, but to my ears the Gurnemanz of Otto von Rohr is wooden and unmoving. His voice is steady and at times quite powerful, but the characterization, besides sounding rather aged, is nil. Compared to Hotter, the outstanding Gurnemanz of those years, von Rohr is a non-starter.





I'm sorry to abbreviate my comments, but the overly enthusiastic response of the first reviewer struck me as very odd."

THE REFERENCE RECORDING OF PARSIFAL

Ryan Kouroukis | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 09/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now that I've heard this recording, I can tell you all that it is THE most special recording of Parsifal ever preserved on tape...more than Karajan's two, Solti's, Kubelik's, Levine's two, Jochum's, Karl Muck's, and ANY of Knappertsbusch's!!!



Really, no words can describe this performance...but I'll say a few...



I've never heard a Parsifal recording so intense, so beautiful...so realistic!



Windgassen and Modl are fully and totally PERFECT and realized in their roles. They know their parts so well that absolutely NO effort is required of them in their singing OR acting! They simply ARE.



Leitner is pure magic from beginning to end, the dramatic through-line is present throughout, and everything in the score seems to develop and occur naturally...almost like their was no conductor! It's indeed very rare for this to happen. To say this performance is Inspired is an understatement! Spiritual and Lyrical?...still, both understatements!



"Magic" is the only word that come to mind that includes all these qualities! But even so, there is much more to boast about, which I will save for other reviewers.



The set has no libretto, just some background notes to the opera itself and some artist bios. It says that the recording was made in 1955...but I can't tell if it's in mono OR stereo! It's very strange, it could very well be early stereo or the best mono recording I've ever heard. And although it is a live recording, there is hadly any audience interference, except when they blaze out in applause after each stupendous act!



THIS RECORDING NOW TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER ALL OF MY OTHER PARSIFAL RECORDINGS, AND IS MY REFERENCE RECORDING...



...I hope it will be yours too!











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