photo: Dan Rest
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photo: Dan Rest
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Opera Review
November 11, 2013
Parsifal
by Betty Mohr
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) suffered heart problems for years before he died of a massive heart attack a year after his Parsifal was first performed in 1882. The German composer was aware of his mortality, and must have known he was on the edge of eternity because his last opera is his most religious work.
It says a lot about Parsifal that Lyric Opera of Chicago not only chose to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth with the opera, but that the Lyric put so much energy and money into mounting the new and heavenly production.
The story (Wagner wrote both the music and the libretto) has a medieval ring to it as it centers on a kingdom of knights that are guarding the Holy Grail (the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper). The King, Amfortas, suffers constant pain because of a wound that won’t heal, which was inflicted on him by the evil Klingsor. The injury came about because of Amfortas’ dalliance with one of Klingsor’s women, the alluring Kundry.
Parsifal arrives in the forest realm as an unthinking, uncaring fool, and is, therefore, refused entry into the Grail Kingdom. We next find Parsifal in the supernatural garden of the sorcerer Klingsor, where he is preyed upon by Flower Maidens. He resists them, especially the seductive efforts of Kundry, and he leaves the garden a better man than when he entered.
When years later, he returns to the domain of the Chalice, he has grown in moral and mental stature. He lifts the curse that has afflicted the Kingdom, heals Amfortas wound with the sacred spear he obtained in the enchanted garden, saves Kundry from her curse, and becomes the clan’s new Black Knight leader.
The opera covers all the big themes of life and religion, veering from ideas of redemption to compassion, from suffering to healing, from goodness to evil, and from empty darkness to the purity of religious faith.
Music director Andrew Davis and the Lyric orchestra come through with such a glorious performance of Wagner’s musical score that one is almost unaware of the opera’s five-hour length. Indeed, director John Caird has staged this Parsifal with a combination of beguiling spectacle and a futuristic science-fiction style that boldly goes where no recent lyric director has gone before. Throughout the production, one is struck by the director’s imagination and creativity.
John Engels circular stage setting immediately captivates one from the moment that columns of symbolic pillars, suggesting trees, rise from the forest floor and white swans fly overhead against a blue night sky. In the scene following, the columns become the pillars of a temple that surround a giant gold hand.
The magic garden in the second act provides a stunning riot of color. From Klingsor’s painted face of white and red, in which he looks very much like one of the aliens in the Star Trek universe, to the Flower Maidens costumed in vibrant pinks and oranges and sporting immense angelic wings, the images are striking.
Of course, the trick to pulling the whole thing off is in assembling a cast of top-notch voices. To a great extent, this is accomplished with the principal players. Paul Groves looked the part of the innocent and youthful Parsifal, and his velvety tenor made his growth from innocent to wise manhood compelling.
Thomas Hampson’s resounding baritone made his cries of anguish and pain as Amfortas almost palpable, and although Tomas Tomasson as Klingsor, was hidden behind lots of face paint, his strong baritone made a stronger statement than his getup.
In addition, Korean bass Kwangchul Youn made a terrific impression as the well-meaning, aging knight Gurnemanz, and mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas was a delight as the mysterious, seductive Kundry.
Parsifal
When: Through Nov. 29, 2013
Where: Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago
Tickets: $34-$244
Information: Call 312.332.2244 or visit www.lyricopera.org
November 11, 2013
Parsifal
by Betty Mohr
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) suffered heart problems for years before he died of a massive heart attack a year after his Parsifal was first performed in 1882. The German composer was aware of his mortality, and must have known he was on the edge of eternity because his last opera is his most religious work.
It says a lot about Parsifal that Lyric Opera of Chicago not only chose to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth with the opera, but that the Lyric put so much energy and money into mounting the new and heavenly production.
The story (Wagner wrote both the music and the libretto) has a medieval ring to it as it centers on a kingdom of knights that are guarding the Holy Grail (the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper). The King, Amfortas, suffers constant pain because of a wound that won’t heal, which was inflicted on him by the evil Klingsor. The injury came about because of Amfortas’ dalliance with one of Klingsor’s women, the alluring Kundry.
Parsifal arrives in the forest realm as an unthinking, uncaring fool, and is, therefore, refused entry into the Grail Kingdom. We next find Parsifal in the supernatural garden of the sorcerer Klingsor, where he is preyed upon by Flower Maidens. He resists them, especially the seductive efforts of Kundry, and he leaves the garden a better man than when he entered.
When years later, he returns to the domain of the Chalice, he has grown in moral and mental stature. He lifts the curse that has afflicted the Kingdom, heals Amfortas wound with the sacred spear he obtained in the enchanted garden, saves Kundry from her curse, and becomes the clan’s new Black Knight leader.
The opera covers all the big themes of life and religion, veering from ideas of redemption to compassion, from suffering to healing, from goodness to evil, and from empty darkness to the purity of religious faith.
Music director Andrew Davis and the Lyric orchestra come through with such a glorious performance of Wagner’s musical score that one is almost unaware of the opera’s five-hour length. Indeed, director John Caird has staged this Parsifal with a combination of beguiling spectacle and a futuristic science-fiction style that boldly goes where no recent lyric director has gone before. Throughout the production, one is struck by the director’s imagination and creativity.
John Engels circular stage setting immediately captivates one from the moment that columns of symbolic pillars, suggesting trees, rise from the forest floor and white swans fly overhead against a blue night sky. In the scene following, the columns become the pillars of a temple that surround a giant gold hand.
The magic garden in the second act provides a stunning riot of color. From Klingsor’s painted face of white and red, in which he looks very much like one of the aliens in the Star Trek universe, to the Flower Maidens costumed in vibrant pinks and oranges and sporting immense angelic wings, the images are striking.
Of course, the trick to pulling the whole thing off is in assembling a cast of top-notch voices. To a great extent, this is accomplished with the principal players. Paul Groves looked the part of the innocent and youthful Parsifal, and his velvety tenor made his growth from innocent to wise manhood compelling.
Thomas Hampson’s resounding baritone made his cries of anguish and pain as Amfortas almost palpable, and although Tomas Tomasson as Klingsor, was hidden behind lots of face paint, his strong baritone made a stronger statement than his getup.
In addition, Korean bass Kwangchul Youn made a terrific impression as the well-meaning, aging knight Gurnemanz, and mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas was a delight as the mysterious, seductive Kundry.
Parsifal
When: Through Nov. 29, 2013
Where: Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago
Tickets: $34-$244
Information: Call 312.332.2244 or visit www.lyricopera.org