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Christopher Ventris, Yvonne Naef & Matti Salminen Bernard Haitink This production of Parsifal was recorded live at the Zurich Opera House in March 2007. It was hailed by the press as one of the finest Wagner performances in recent years, thanks in part to Bernard Haitink’s gripping presence in the pit. The production by Hans Hollmann is austere in conception; Hans Hoffer’s understated designs using geometric shapes and blocks of colour to emphasise the juxtapositions at the heart of Wagner’s mystical opera – light versus darkness, good versus evil. The effect is beautiful and simple, focussing attention on the music. The excellent international cast of leading Wagnerian singers is headed by Christopher Ventris in the title role and also features Yvonne Naef as a sensuous Kundry and Matti Salminen who was highly acclaimed by the press for his powerful, touching portrayal of the ageing Gurnemanz. Additional features: Produced in HD, to be released in NTSC 16:9; audio will be in 5.1 DTS Surround Sound and PCM stereo. “Musically this is quite the finest Parsifal on DVD, to be heard even if you find the production tiresome. Hans Hollmann may have bizarre ideas about the staging, but he can get singers to act, and the production never impedes the overwhelming intensity of the relationships between the central characters.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ***** | 
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Waltraud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem, Kurt Moll, Bernd Weikl Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, James Levine Subtitles in German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Siegfried Jerusalem, Eva Randova, Hans Sotin, Bernd Weikl & Matti Salminen Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Horst Stein Staged by Wolfgang Wagner & Video Director Brian Large “A production and performance that showed the festival at its finest” (The New York Times) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Bronsgeest (Cornelis), Hofmann (Ludwig), Pistor (Gotthelf) Chor und Orchester der Staatsoper, Berlin,, Muck (Karl) | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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Rene Kollo, Theo Adam, Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Thomanerchor Leipzig Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig, Herbert Kegel | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 6 working days. |
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Christopher Ventris, Waltraud Meier, Matti Salminen, Tom Fox, Thomas Hampson Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Festspielchor Baden-Baden, Kent Nagano Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Jones, King, Stewart, Crass, McIntyre, Ridderbusch Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Pierre Boulez | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Richard Decker (tenor), Matthias Hölle (bass), Wolfgang SchÖne (baritone), Doris Soffel (soprano), Mikolaj Zalasinski (baritone) & Ulrich Dünnebach (bass) Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Gabor ÖtvÖs (conductor) & Denis Krief (director, set, costume and light designer) Parsifal, Wagner’s last opera, was premièred in Bayreuth in 1882. In the fifty years of his artistic life Wagner did not only mature and outline more and more clearly the aesthetic ideals that formed the intellectual substratum of his composing activity but definitely upset the course of the history of music and of the music theatre. The wide range of his cultural interests, his operational daring, ability to blend elements of different origin, complete rejection of any form of operatic routine and grandiosity of conception make of each and every opera that he wrote a sort of artistic case in its own, where the experiences of previous works are salvaged or abandoned according to the expressive needs, which are never subordinate to contingent necessities. Performing this complex work is no simple task, but the cast on stage at Teatro La Fenice in Venice did so with flying colours. Available also in CD. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded on 8 May 1971 (Stereo)
Jon Vickers, Norman Bailey, Amy Shuard, Donald McIntyre, Louis Hendrikx, Michael Langdon, Nan Christie, Delia Wallis, David Lennox, John Dobson, Edgar Evans, Denis Wicks, Kiri te Kanawa, Maureen Keetch, Anne Howells, Alison Hargan, Anne Pashley, Marjorie Biggar & Anne Howells The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House & The Royal Opera Chorus, Reginald Goodall The Royal Opera House's 'Parsifal' conducted by Reginald Goodall can be called an historical document of major importance and essential listening for any Wagnerite. As the Gramophone critic noted in 1998, 'No conductor today has a greater "understanding of this complex structure and, as he himself would have it, its 'Klang', than Goodall.' The vintage cast of Jon Vickers (Parsifal), Norman Bailey (Amfortas), Amy Shuard (Kundry), Donald McIntyre (Klingsor) and Louis Hendrikx (Gurnemanz) with the addition of Kiri Te Kanawa as the 1st Flower Maiden produce memorable performances. It's greatest strength is Jon Vickers who said in 1981, ten years later than this performance, in an interview with Brice Duffie, 'I can assure you that the 'Parsifal' at Covent Garden (is) talked about to this day'. 'It still is' according to John Deathridge, whose essay accompanies this recording and who goes on to say 'If by no means ideal, this recording is still one of the most memorable'. Reginald Goodall, whose legendary reputation in Wagner (and who recorded Parsifal in the studio in 1984 with the Welsh National), directs a performance which allows endless details to emerge from the score and the singers time to develop and improvise their roles. 1971 was almost the beginning of the recognition which came to him in the late part of his career. This 'Parsifal' give collectors another opportunity to hear Amy Shuard who made very few recordings and whose early death at 51 deprived the Royal Opera House of one of it's potentially great stars. Donald McIntyre and Norman Bailey were both highly experienced and respected Wagner singers by 1971 with appearances in Bayreuth and other leading opera houses. The Belgian bass-baritone, Louis Hendrikx, a very rare visitor to London, is a notable Gurnemanz. Also a young Kiri Te Kanawa makes her mark as the 1st Flower Maiden! Superb stereo recording encapsulates both the power and detail of this astonishing score. John Deathridge, the booklet writer, has just published a new book on Wagner from the University of California Press entitled 'Wagner Beyond Good and Evil'. |
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Plácido Domingo & Waltraud Meier Orchester Der Wiener Staatsoper, Christian Thielemann Live Recording | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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