{"id":1111,"date":"2013-11-13T02:01:16","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T06:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2016-10-02T21:22:39","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T01:22:39","slug":"parsifal-at-chicagos-lyric-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/13\/parsifal-at-chicagos-lyric-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Parsifal&#8217; at Chicago&#8217;s Lyric Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wagner&#039;s PARSIFAL at Lyric Opera of Chicago\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bj0p-Zxu7CY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Chicago&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/lyricopera.org\" target=\"_blank\">Lyric Opera<\/a> debuted its new production of Richard Wagner&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Parsifal<\/em> this past Saturday, directed by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.johncaird.com\" target=\"_blank\">John Caird<\/a>. It was delightful and moving. Much like <a title=\"Die Meistersinger von Chicago\" href=\"http:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/23\/die-meistersinger-von-chicago\/\" target=\"_blank\">my post on Lyric&#8217;s production of\u00a0<em>Die Meistersinger<\/em><\/a>, I&#8217;m not here to necessarily write a\u00a0&#8220;review&#8221; of the performance, but rather to discuss my\u00a0experience.<\/p>\n<p><em>Parsifal<\/em>\u00a0is Wagner&#8217;s final opera. Premiering in 1882, it&#8217;s the only one to have been written after the construction of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Wagner didn&#8217;t consider it an opera, but rather a &#8220;a consecration play for the stage&#8221; (or, in German,\u00a0<em>ein B\u00fchnenweihfestspiel<\/em>). Adding to the work&#8217;s quickly mythologized status, the Wagner estate kept\u00a0<em>Parsifal<\/em> from being performed anywhere save Bayreuth for its first twenty years. Such quasi-religious treatment of the work is appropriate, considering its deeply religious and philosophical themes and overtones. Centering on the knights of the Holy Grail,\u00a0<em>Parsifal<\/em> is a tale of temptation, compassion, and redemption.\u00a0Despite the piece&#8217;s drama, Wagner&#8217;s characteristic dissonance and aggressiveness are downplayed in comparison to his other works. It&#8217;s still dramatic, chromatic, and moving, however the sonic experiences is one of beauty, reflection, and awe. It&#8217;s a wondrous sonic experience that nicely complements the work&#8217;s nearly liturgical ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>This production is Caird&#8217;s first Wagner endeavor, and I thought it a successful one at that. (&#8220;Official reviews&#8221; have been <a href=\"http:\/\/articles.chicagotribune.com\/2013-11-10\/entertainment\/chi-lyric-opera-parsifal-review-20131110_1_parsifal-amfortas-kundry\" target=\"_blank\">mixed<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.suntimes.com\/entertainment\/23666436-421\/lyrics-new-parsifal-more-resonant-than-its-last.html\" target=\"_blank\">positive<\/a>.) He and set designer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.loesjesanders.com\/clients\/cvs\/engels_cv.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Johan Engels<\/a>\u00a0created a visually striking series of images and scenes. (This was my second Engels outing this year after\u00a0his David Pountney-directed\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bregenzerfestspiele.com\/en\/mainmenu\/programme\/opera-lake\/the-magic-flute\" target=\"_blank\">Die<\/a><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bregenzerfestspiele.com\/en\/mainmenu\/programme\/opera-lake\/the-magic-flute\" target=\"_blank\"> <em>Zauberfl\u00f6te<\/em><\/a> at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bregenzerfestspiele.com\" target=\"_blank\">Bregenzer Festspiele<\/a>.) The set&#8217;s centerpiece &#8211; a large circular platform with removable panels and a mechanically adjustable eye &#8211; was utilitarian and provided a focal point. Aside from the Grail, holy spear, abdominal wounds, and a trio of swans, there was little overtly Christian iconography, opting instead to focus more on philosophy and cultural symbolism. (For example, women play a an important role in Act III, adding a sisterhood to the brotherhood of Grail knights.) I enjoyed the use of color throughout: from the sullen green forests and stark blue worship hall of Act I, to Klingsor&#8217;s hellish red domain and the Flowermaidens&#8217; vibrant garden in Act II, to the pale forest in Act III.\u00a0The Flowermaidens (Act II, Scene 2) were a highlight. Call me a sucker, as I&#8217;m sure many will scoff and say that this part is an easy &#8220;go to&#8221; visually, but I thought that the brilliant colors mixed with the choreography was stunning. That, coupled with the female chorus&#8217;s impeccable performance made for an arresting second act. Having the swans played by people was a nice touch also. The three swans &#8211; the Trinity? &#8211; flying in the forest during the prelude and the lone swan &#8211; in lieu of a dove &#8211; in the finale offered not only a visual treat during the prelude but also a nice way to bring the production full circle at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Vocally, recent Bayreuth staple <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kwangchulyoun.info\" target=\"_blank\">Kwangchul Youn<\/a> as Gurnemanz and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thomashampson.com\" target=\"_blank\">Thomas Hampson<\/a> as Amfortas reigned, along with <a href=\"http:\/\/musicalworld.com\/artists\/tomas-tomasson\/\" target=\"_blank\">T\u00f3m\u00e1s T\u00f3masson<\/a>&#8216;s Klingsor. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.davedakaranas.com\" target=\"_blank\">Daveda Karanas<\/a>&#8216;s Kundry and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/artists\/paul-groves\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Groves<\/a>&#8216;s Parsifal were both quite good, but there were moments in which they felt stretched in their extreme ranges. That&#8217;s being picky of course. However, I can&#8217;t say enough good about the Lyric Opera chorus. The choral moments were phenomenal &#8211; deep, musically rich, and well balanced.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sirandrewdavis.com\" target=\"_blank\">Sir Andrew Davis<\/a> led the orchestra in a mostly superb performance. I say &#8220;mostly&#8221; due to one glaring error at the very end, in which a trumpeter opted to hold a note between the final two chords. (Perhaps he\/she thought they were <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IK9cKPCvXSw\" target=\"_blank\">proceeding to <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IK9cKPCvXSw\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Rienzi<\/em><\/a> attacca?) That and a couple small intonation blips aside, the orchestra sounded lovely and offered a warm, moving reading.<\/p>\n<p><em>Moving<\/em>. And that&#8217;s what it&#8217;s all about. It&#8217;s why I don&#8217;t want to really focus on more &#8220;negative&#8221; aspects or drawbacks, as is the case with many reviews and reviewers, because, ultimately, I was\u00a0<em>moved<\/em>. And greatly so, at that.\u00a0<em>Parsifal<\/em>&#8216;s gesamtkunstwerk was in full effect Saturday night. Many will quibble about the production&#8217;s interpretive qualities, and of course performances of any kind are subject to criticism. But the DRAMA is what matters. And by that measure, this new production wholly succeeds. I wasn&#8217;t checking my watch throughout the 4.75-hour event. In fact, much of the time, I wasn&#8217;t even really &#8220;there,&#8221; but rather lost in the soundworld and imagery. I understand that that&#8217;s probably too naive for some, but I doubt Wagner intended for us to attend every performance in the context of the scores of other audio and video recordings &#8211; and possibly score study &#8211; serving as a reference point. I believe that the performance can largely be judged on this simple yes\/no: was the listener\u00a0<em>affected<\/em> (positively, of course)? If yes, then much of the battle is already won. And it was a glorious victory Saturday in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>NOTE: This production runs through November 29 in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Anthony Freud, Sir Andrew Davis, and Ren\u00e9e Fleming preview Wagner&#039;s PARSIFAL\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gV6q_6RjLpo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chicago&#8217;s Lyric Opera debuted its new production of Richard Wagner&#8217;s\u00a0Parsifal this past Saturday, directed by John Caird. It was delightful and moving. Much like my post on Lyric&#8217;s production of\u00a0Die Meistersinger, I&#8217;m not here to necessarily write a\u00a0&#8220;review&#8221; of the performance, but rather to discuss my\u00a0experience. Parsifal\u00a0is Wagner&#8217;s final opera. Premiering in 1882, it&#8217;s the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11],"tags":[878,881,882,879,735,874,877,276,737,875,876],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listening","category-misc","tag-daveda-karanas","tag-johan-engels","tag-john-caird","tag-kwangchul-youn","tag-lyric-opera-of-chicago","tag-parsifal","tag-paul-groves","tag-richard-wagner","tag-sir-andrew-davis","tag-thomas-hampson","tag-tomas-tomasson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1113,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions\/1113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelteager.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}