Parsifal

I like Wagner a great deal, and while Parsifal isn't my favourite of his I have high respect for it. This production is excellent and one of the better Parsifals I've seen. The costume and set design do look wonderful and the video directing likewise. Sound is mostly good too, though occasionally muffled. The music is fantastic, and superlatively performed by the orchestra with adept conducting, while the dramaturgy and staging are faultless, unlike some Parsifals this is not bogged down by too much symbolism. I have very little to criticise the performance, Siegfried Jerusalem is excellent as Parsifal, and while her Kundry is a little too sweet in Act 2 Eva Randova is on the whole very, very good. Matti Salminen performs to his usual fine standard, but the three best performances come from Bernd Weikl, Hans Sotin and Leif Roar, all superb, especially Sotin, whose Gurmananz is very subtle and moving. All in all, excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox