13895 Wagner News 174 - Wagner Society of England

were not as spectacular as the three just singled out. Our own superlative ‘Ex Cathedra’
from Birmingham joined the Russian forces to provide high sopranos of exceptional purity
in the Grail Scenes and the only unsatisfactory vocal contribution came from Gergiev
himself. He emoted often and much. It was sometimes as if he were sharing the podium
with a constipated ox, snorting and bellowing at all the wrong moments. On the other hand,
the sound which he drew from the orchestra had a strange, earthy fire and a tremendous
technical finish which contributed to a performance of spirituality and real distinction.
Our next Parsifal came six days later on Good Friday at Leipzig, and it was very
poorly attended, with only about 30% of the seats occupied, in spite of seat prices – I tell
no lie – one fifth of what Covent Garden charges. Apart from lower costs the big
advantage of Leipzig is that it boasts a division of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the pit,
and this orchestra shares with the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Vienna Philharmonic, and
the Mariinsky Orchestra the distinction of being one of the truly great, world-class
orchestras whose main job is in the opera house.
Some of the Gewandhaus woodwind solos were staggeringly beautiful, and the
sound as a whole had the body and depth which are the birthright of the great German
orchestras. Ulf Schirmer, the conductor, is now not only musical director at the Leipzig
Opera but has taken over from Henri Meyer as Intendant, and he demonstrated his
credentials laudably, bringing out more of the score’s luminous radiance than Gergiev. He
was supported not only by the phenomenal orchestra but by Roland Aeschlimann’s
staging, admirably uncluttered and easy on the eye if rather blank, like an attractive
pictorial representation of cyberspace.
The Grail is not a chalice but a lapis exillis, a sort of philosopher’s stone fallen out
of heaven, as it was in some earlier grail legends. This stone was a hologram
representation, and it made a mesmerising effect as it rotated in mid-air onstage, and
glided forwards out of nowhere towards the audience. There was no bread or wine, and
one of the production’s more interesting but controversial features remains the closing
tableau where everything else faded to leave Amfortas alone centre stage, beckoning
Kundry over and enfolding her in his arms. This was not so much a passionate embrace
as a loving reconciliation, agape not eros, all animosity and contempt laid to rest. Stephan
Vinke (soon to be Siegfried at Covent Garden) was Parsifal as he was seven years ago,
and his heroic, ringing tones had now taken on a strident edge which allowed him less
inwardness than formerly.
As Kundry Lioba Braun had replaced the marvellous Petra Lang, she whose
picture deservedly adorned the cover of the last Wagner News, and sadly Lioba Braun was
much inferior. Not only was her pallid, unsteady production no substitute for Petra Lang’s
pure, golden tones, but she had neither Petra Lang’s magnetism nor the feral virulence
with which Petra Lang’s Kundry rounded on the young knights attacking her in Act I.
Petra Lang’s wild woman struck as much fear as hostility from these young hopefuls.
The Gurnemanz of James Moellenhoff was a gentle and scholarly man, gently and
musically sung, and he constantly referred to some enormous ancient book of lore and
prophecy, a central feature of the production, to guide him through events. The whole
performance was so good that I would energetically recommend members of the Wagner
Society to watch the internet for any more Wagner at Leipzig, and go at every opportunity.
Leipzig after all was where Wagner was born, and it roused mixed emotions that the public
at Leipzig are so little committed to the city’s greatest native son (Bach was not a native of
Leipzig but of Eisenach) that visitors can enjoy an incredible artistic bargain without even
booking in advance. They can just pay at the box office and walk in.
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