Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Martina Ruping, Timothy Fallon, Ulrike Schneider, Tuomas Pursio, Olivia Vermeulen, Clemens Bieber, Evgeny Nikitin, Franz-Josef Selig, Lani Poulson, Michael Smallwood, Michelle DeYoung, Christian Elsner, Julia Borchert, Dimitri Ivashchenko, Sophie Klussmann, Eike Wilm Schulte, Rundfunkchor Berlin
Orchestra: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Marek Janowski
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Catalogue: PTC5186401
Release: 2012
Size: 4.04 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Parsifal
CD 01
Act I
01. Prelude
02. He! Ho! Waldhuter ihr (Gurnemanz, First knight)
03. Seht dort, die wilde Reiterin (Squires, Knights, Kundry, Gurnemanz)
04. Recht so! Habt Dank! Ein wenig Rast (Amfortas) – Gawan! Herr! Gawan weilte nicht [Amfortas, Second Knight, Gurnemanz]
05. He! Du da! Was liegst du dort wie ein wildes Tier? (Squires, Gurnemanz, Kundry)
06. O wunden-wundervoller heiliger Speer (Gurnemanz, Squires)
07. Titurel, der fromme Held (Gurnemanz, Squires)
08. Weh! – Hoho! – Auf – Wer ist der Frevler (Squires, Knights, Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
09. Nun sag’! Nichts weisst du, was ich dich frage (Gurnemanz, Parsifal, Kundry)
CD 02
Act I
01. Vom Bade kehrt der Konig heim (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
02. Verwandlungsmusik
03. Nun achte wohl und lass mich seh’n (Gurnemanz) – Zum letzten Liebesmahle [Chorus]
04. Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt? (Titurel, Amfortas)
05. Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen (Amfortas, Chorus)
06. Enthullet den Gral! (Titurel, Chorus) – Nehmet hin mein Blut [Chorus, Titurel]
07. Wein und Brot des letzten Mahles (Chorus)
08. Departure of the Knights – Was stehst du noch da? (Gurnemanz, Voice from Above, Chorus)
CD 03
Act II
01. Prelude – Die Zeit ist da (Klingsor)
02. Ach! Ach! Tiefe Nacht Wahnsinn! (Kundry, Klingsor)
03. Ho! Ihr Wachter! Ho! Ritter! (Klingsor)
04. Hier war das Tosen! (Flower Maidens, Parsifal)
05. Komm, holder Knabe! (Flower Maidens, Parsifal)
06. Parsifal! Weile! (Kundry, Parsifal, Flower Maidens)
07. Dies alles hab’ ich nun getraumt? (Parsifal, Kundry)
08. Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust (Kundry)
09. Wehe! Was tat ich? Wo war ich? (Parsifal, Kundry) – Bekenntnis wird Schuld in Reue enden [Kundry]
10. Amfortas! Die Wunde! (Parsifal, Kundry)
11. Grausamer! Fuhlst du im Herzen (Kundry, Parsifal) – Ich sah ihn [Kundry, Parsifal] – Nun such’ ich ihn von Welt zu Welt [Kundry, Parsifal]
12. Vergeh, unseliges Weib! (Parsifal, Kundry, Klingsor)
CD 04
Act III
01. Prelude
02. Von dort her kam das Stohnen (Gurnemanz, Kundry)
03. Heil dir, mein Gast! (Gurnemanz)
04. Heil mir, dass ich dich wiederfinde! (Parsifal, Gurnemanz)
05. Zu ihm, des tiefe Klagen (Parsifal, Gurnemanz)
06. O Herr! War es ein Fluch (Gurnemanz) – Die heil’ge Speisung bleibt uns nun versagt [Gurnemanz, Parsifal]
07. Nicht so! Die heil’ge Quelle selbst (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
08. Gesegnet sei, du Reiner, durch das Reine! (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
09. Wie dunkt mir doch die Aue heut so schon! (Parsifal, Gurnemanz)
10. Du siehst, das ich nicht so (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
11. Mittag: Die Stund’ ist da (Gurnemanz) – Verwandlungsmusik
12. Geleiten wir im bergenden Schrein (Chorus)
13. Ja, wehe! Weh’ uber mich (Amfortas, Chorus)
14. Nur eine Waffe taugt (Parsifal)
15. Hochsten Heiles Wunder! – Erlosung dem Erloser!
This is the third release of the very successful Wagner Edition. The first release, Flying Dutchman (PTC5186400) was an Editor’s Choice in the Gramophone. The second, Die Meistersinger, (PTC5186402) was the BBC Music Magazine Opera Choice of the Month in February. “It is a phenomenal achievement of Marek Janowski to have welded his immense forces into such a virtually flawless unity.”
Parsifal is the second installment in Pentatone’s ambitious project to record Wagner’s ten important operas between in 2011 and 2013 in celebration of the bicentennial of his birth, featuring live concert performances with Marek Janowski leading Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Rundfunkchor Berlin. Janowski is an old hand at Wagner, having conducted the first (and very fine) digital recording of The Ring, and he brings a sure understanding and unified conception to Parsifal. One of its most immediately noticeable characteristics is its urgency, which essentially means faster tempos. His version at three and three-quarters hours is nearly a half hour shorter than classic recordings like Knappertsbusch’s 1951 Bayreuth version and Solti’s Decca release. What’s gained is a momentum and sense of dramatic movement in an opera that’s notorious for bogged-down performances. It also has the effect of making the opera seem more personal, even intimate at moments, because the momentum gives the dialogue between characters such immediacy. Janowski is sensitive to allowing the music plenty of space to unfold where it calls for evoking a timeless expansiveness, such as the scenes in the Hall of the Grail. The orchestra and chorus perform with seamless assurance and with a velvety sensuality. Janowski keeps textures transparent so that details of the scoring are easily audible, and that transparency also contributes to the intimacy of his reading. The exemplary vocal performances are uniformly very fine, and the singers bring an acute sense of drama to their roles and their interactions The recording is blessed with a wealth of expressive, resonant, tonally sumptuous, and clearly differentiated low voices, including Evgeny Nikitin as Amfortas, Dimitry Ivashchenko as Titurel, Franz-Josef Selig as Gurnemanz, and Eike Wilm Schulte as Klingsor. Christian Elsner is a passionate Parsifal and his ringing tenor is heroic and robust. As Kundry, Michelle DeYoung sings with warmth and poignancy and is especially effective in her rich lower register. The sound of the hybrid multichannel SACD is immaculate and spacious.