Which Parsifal will you play this weekend? There are no wrong answers!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well I might avoid the Ks, then, but may plummet for either or both the Bs! (The alpha and omega! :))

I think that the "K"s are my favourites, Bbm - definitely NOT to be avoided. I mentioned the "B"s because Boulez (on cassette) was my first ever purchase of this work, and I want to hear that urgency and drama (closer in mood to the original Bayreuth performances, if overall timings mean anything); and Barenboim, because I've never heard it, I enjoy his other Wagner performances, and everyone who knows both it and me keeps telling me I'd enjoy it!

(I am not too sure about how MrsBBM will react to this haha! :))

Remind her how much happier she is when you are happy - and that a copy of Parsifal in your collection will make you VERY happy!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't think ferney is implying anything to avoid with the Karajan (1980, for sure).

[ostuni]

On Good Friday I was playing in a St John Passion (the 4th this season...) and then yesterday morning & afternoon a St Matthew Passion (OT for this thread, but if you get a chance to see Gwilym Bowen as evangelist, then take it!) So by the evening, I was ready for a good dose of Parsifal, and listened to Karajan's Act 1, for the first time. And a lot of the sound is spectacular: magnificent orchestral playing. His Gurnemanz (Moll) also sings on my probable favourite (Kubelik) and is wonderful here, too - rather more closely recorded, so has some effective sotto voce moments. And the knights & squires are possibly the best sung/clearest recorded ones that I've heard (haven't yet looked up their names). The one letdown: the muffled & not very steady women's voices in the distant choir - no match for Kubelik's boys.

[Beef Oven!]

On Good Friday I was playing in a St John Passion (the 4th this season...) and then yesterday morning & afternoon a St Matthew Passion (OT for this thread, but if you get a chance to see Gwilym Bowen as evangelist, then take it!) So by the evening, I was ready for a good dose of Parsifal, and listened to Karajan's Act 1, for the first time. And a lot of the sound is spectacular: magnificent orchestral playing. His Gurnemanz (Moll) also sings on my probable favourite (Kubelik) and is wonderful here, too - rather more closely recorded, so has some effective sotto voce moments. And the knights & squires are possibly the best sung/clearest recorded ones that I've heard (haven't yet looked up their names). The one letdown: the muffled & not very steady women's voices in the distant choir - no match for Kubelik's boys.

Yes, I think you are right about the Karajan Parsifal. You've prompted me to dig out my JEG St Matthew Passion for a listen at some point during the next 36 hours!

[Petrushka]

And I still want Boulez and Barenboim - and wouldn't mind the stereo Knappertsbusch version, too!

Try and find room for the VPO/Solti recording too if you can! Tremendous cast and Rene Kollo in magnificent voice in the title role. Needless, to say, the VPO play with matchless beauty.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Try and find room for the VPO/Solti recording too if you can! Tremendous cast and Rene Kollo in magnificent voice in the title role. Needless, to say, the VPO play with matchless beauty.

Yes - I'm Soltiphobic in Wagner, but several people (including, IIRC, Flossie) have suggested that this is one that deserves a listen. That would mean that I'd own eight (and a half) Parsifals!

Then I'd move on to a DVD version - anyone got any recommendations?

[ostuni]

Solti's Parsifal really seems to work - it's a lot more delicate than you might think from just hearing his Ring (I'm not a great fan of this). Kollo's title role is indeed great - and Frick is a far more noble Gurnemanz that you'd expect (not at all Hagenesque!). DFD is DFD, of course - but I think Amfortas suits his style. And Christa Ludwig is magnificent (but then, when isn't she?).

It's the Barenboim, mentioned earlier, that I'm not so impressed by. This time last year I was listening to the Tribune des Critiques podcast of Act 3 - and wasn't surprised when the Barenboim (& Thielemann) fell at the first fence. Jerusalem is excellent, Meier is Meier, the orchestra sounds superb (best bells that I know, btw) - but for me, it's the singing of Gurnemanz which is the deciding factor, and Hoelle just doesn't have the steadiness of tone. And a couple of the French critics weren't impressed by Barenboim's direction.

The Gurnemanz of our times is, of course, Pape. Team him with Kaufmann's heroic Parsifal and Mattei's astonishingly good Amfortas (and some fine conducting from Gatti), and the Met DVD is head & shoulders above the competition. (And it came top of the heap, in audio only, in the Tribune.

[Beef Oven!]

I love Solti's 1964 Mahler 1 with the LSO, but I think I am too a Soltiphobe, when it comes to Wagner.

[Beef Oven!]

Yes - I'm Soltiphobic in Wagner, but several people (including, IIRC, Flossie) have suggested that this is one that deserves a listen. That would mean that I'd own eight (and a half) Parsifals!

Then I'd move on to a DVD version - anyone got any recommendations?

I only have the Horst Stein Deutsche Grammophon Parsifal DVD, but I love it.

Staged by Wolfgang Wagner. Siegfried Jerusalem is Parsifal. Filmed live at Bayreuth, it almost goes without saying.

[HighlandDougie]

The Gurnemanz of our times is, of course, Pape. Team him with Kaufmann's heroic Parsifal and Mattei's astonishingly good Amfortas (and some fine conducting from Gatti), and the Met DVD is head & shoulders above the competition. (And it came top of the heap, in audio only, in the Tribune.

I've recently moved from being Wagner-agnostic to Wagner-appreciative, one step on that path being this DVD/Blu-ray, a performance which has quite won me over to the work. I've no idea what the opposition is like but this one is really rather gripping (a word I would once have thought wholly alien as a description of 'Parsifal').

[Flosshilde]

Yes - I'm Soltiphobic in Wagner, but several people (including, IIRC, Flossie) have suggested that this is one that deserves a listen. That would mean that I'd own eight (and a half) Parsifals!

Then I'd move on to a DVD version - anyone got any recommendations?

Goodness, did I? I haven't got it, & don't recall having heard it - mine are Thieleman, Knappersbush (1950 Beyreuth?) and the wonderful Syberberg film. I had the Boulez on audio cassette tape (what we used to use for portable music, children, before CDs, downloads & streaming)

[Petrushka]

Goodness, did I? I haven't got it, & don't recall having heard it - mine are Thieleman, Knappersbush (1950 Beyreuth?) and the wonderful Syberberg film. I had the Boulez on audio cassette tape (what we used to use for portable music, children, before CDs, downloads & streaming)

If I remember correctly, I think it was DracoM who was very keen on the Solti (possibly upthread somewhere) and I wholeheartedly endorse the recommendation. Those who aren't listening to it because of being Soltiphobes are missing something.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Goodness, did I? I haven't got it, & don't recall having heard it

Oh! My bad! - it was some time ago; possibly even on the old BBC messageboards!

Many thanks to everyone for the DVD suggestions - a quick look at youTube reveals that the Horst Stein and Daniel Gatti films are available complete there; as are the sound-only versions by Solti, Barenboim, and the 1960s Knappertsbusch (as well as a couple of others). Looks like a busy week or two ahead for me!

[BBMmk2]

Maybe the Karajan, Solti and or Boulez?

[Barbirollians]

The situation has not changed in the last year. Indeed, although I did go to one live performance of a Wagner work during the intervening year, I don't recall having played any CDs or downloads of Wagner since 2015. I'm certainly not going to start today - too busy - other things to do. So, as in 2015, I'm still apologising to the Wagnerites - though I don't really feel I should have to.

I might revisit the Mendelssohn quintet in B flat Op 87 which I heard live a few days ago. Apparently Mendelssohn didn't like that one much, but it sounded pretty good to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGLTUdFTMYg

Good for you Dave - took me ages to stop wasting time on listening to Wagner that did nothing for me .