https://youtu.be/vUifwQDQCqI Includes remarks (in German) from the production team.
As indicated above this was an excellent example of regie-theatre at its best; a thoughtful and provocative look at a work that is at once, true to its essential nature but shows it to us in a new vision.
The essence of the production is Parsifal in a post-nuclear apocalyptic landscape where the Knights of the Grail are a group of, presumably dying, survivors. The one set shows a blasted landscape dotted with dead tree trunks with ruined concrete structure with a platform on one side of the stage and elsewhere pits in the ground (spectacularly used in the opening to Act 2 where they were set on fire by a flame-throwing-machine-gun wielding Klingsor (unusually, a young and rather sexy one); all very Mad Max.
In Act 1 the stage was bathed in a livid, sickly green light, effectively setting the scene. The knights of the Grail are clearly looking for something to give meaning to their lives and anything will do - as is quite wittily shown by the revealing of the Grail towards the end of Act One being the distribution of an eclectic range of religious artefacts from all cultures and times as the source of comfort to the sufferers. In a world where nothing is important, the everything can become important and freighted with meaning if everything has gone.
Kundry is central as being a much-abused individual, both a part of the world of the knights and of Klingsor’s world. Titurel is strikingly blind (a bit heavy-handed to be honest) although with his dark suit and round dark glasses he bore a distinct resemblance to Dr. Strangelove - but I think this was just me; I could not make any further connection than this simple visual one.
As indicated above, the opening of Act 2 was spectacular and there was clearly a ‘special relationship’ between Kundry and Klingsor. The Flower Maidens were pretty horrific, dead-eyed fur-coated zombie-like figures, neurotically scribbling on their plastic wrapped semi-naked bodies with red pens. And I particularly liked the grim contrast between the very beautiful music and the contrast with what we saw - it seemed to suggest that there was some optimism in the world - but not in this one. Here, as with much else in the production, the degree of interactions between the different figures was pretty distant - almost the idea that everyone in this world is existing (and this rather than living) in isolation with very little relationship to anyone else. This also came across with the chorus where it was a group of individuals rather than a group with a common shared purpose
Parsifal, in this act in particular, very much came across as not so much the ‘wise fool’ but just somewhat crazy, not really understanding what was going on around him - or what he was doing. During his central scene with Kundry, in her early section, she was far more involved, physically, with Klingsor and Parsifal was left on his own and it was only in the latter part of the scene that there was Kundry/Parsifal interaction. Ad this was an interesting and dark relationship with Parsifal’s mother-loss fixation being shown in many wasy, not least in her breastfeeding of him. An interesting idea and Klingsor’s looming figure throughout (where he is normally absent from the stage in mote traditional productions) strongly conveyed the idea of his central and powerful relationship with Kundry as well as the idea that he was controlling everything - certainly what Kundry did. This was well established right from the start of the act where Kundry rose from one of the pits in the stage as if being re-born/raised from the dead. Perhaps both?
The only weakness of the production, in terms of staging, was how Parsifal obtained and acted with the spear - it seemed to be rather random and ill-thought out and not as central an act as it surely must be.
In the third act, the top platform of the main structure (from where the religious artefacts were distributed) had now collapsed, a fair if somewhat obvious means of showing that matters are getting worse.
In this act I could not work out of Kundry was meant to be pregnant - her gestures implied this and the reason for her only speaking a few words here made sense given how she cut her tongue out at the end of the second act.
In this act Gurnemanz was blind - advancing radiation sickness? - and he only recognised Parsifal by the brand that was put on his chest at the end of the first act saying ‘Erlosung’. Good touch - and the blindness connected him to Titurel as well. Again, the symbolism of his blindness could be said to be too obvious but it was nevertheless powerful.
The absurdity/meaningless of the religious aspect of the story was emphasised in this act by the colourful if not garish robe (with some flashing lights!) that Parsifal was dressed in, hung with the religious artefacts that we had seen distributed in Act 1 - and Parsifal’s laughing puzzlement at what was happening to him (he really still understood nothing - a fool but not, in this production a wise one). Right to the end he was laughing in seeming amazement at what was happening to him. But I remain puzzled by the strips of paper he had with a repeated design on in this act…
Here, as characterised the whole production, virtually all of the action happened at the front of the stage. Initially I was puzzled by this and wondered why the depth of the stage was not used, but it did have the effect of drawing the audience in much more (although this would have been far more apparent if one was in the theatre rather than viewing a film of the performance).
In the final scene the toxic green mist returned In this final scene, intriguingly, Titurel was apparently killed by the ‘knights’ which did contradict what Gurnemanz told Parsifal in the first part of the act. I am not sure how this was overcome, if it was. and at the climax of the act seemed to be reborn - or was it his spirit walking off with Gurnemanz? Intriguing and puzzling - or, even more radical, was everyone dead from the start and they just endlessly acted out and re-enacted the rituals?
At the end Kundry remained - no ‘salvation’ for her and we saw her as we did at the opening during the prelude, in front of the seemingly obligatory regie-teater prop, the shopping trolley and which was used to take Parsifal back to the Knights of the Grail. But this final image seemed to suggest that all were trapped in a cycle that was going to be repeated until all died.
So, marvellously thought-provoking, superbly performed, musically and dramatically and as powerful, although as different from, the Opera Vendeeren one reviewed here earlier.
Amfortas: Markus Marquardt
Gurnemanz: Attila Jun
Parsifal: Daniel Kirch
Klingsor: Tobias Schabel
Kundry: Christiane Libor
Titurel: Matthias Hölle
1. Gralsritter: Heinz Göhrig • 2. Gralsritter: Michael Nagl •
1. Knappe: Josefin Feiler • 2. Knappe: Diana Haller • 3. Knappe: Torsten Hofmann • 4. Knappe: Moritz Kallenberg •
1.1. Blumenmädchen: Josefin Feiler • 1.2. Blumenmädchen: Estelle Kruger • 1.3. Blumenmädchen: Fiorella Hincapié • 2.1. Blumenmädchen: Mirella Bunoaica • 2.2. Blumenmädchen: Aoife Gibney • 2.3. Blumenmädchen: Stine Marie Fischer •
Stimme aus der Höhe: Stine Marie Fischer
Musikalische Leitung: Silvain Camberling