Staatsoper Stuttgart: Richard Wagner: Parsifal (March 30th, 2018)

By , March 31, 2018 14:57

First: The obvious (in German):

Musikalische Leitung: Sylvain Cambreling
Regie: Calixto Bieito
Bühne: Susanne Gschwender
Kostüme: Mercè Paloma
Licht: Reinhard Traub
Chor und Kinderchor: Christoph Heil, Johannes Knecht
Dramaturgie: Xavier Zuber

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: Esther Dierkes
3. Knappe: Torsten Hofmann
4. Knappe: Moritz Kallenberg
1.1. Blumenmädchen: Josefin Feiler
1.2. Blumenmädchen: Esther Dierkes
1.3. Blumenmädchen: Fiorella Hincapié
2.1. Blumenmädchen: Mirella Bunoaica
2.2. Blumenmädchen: Aoife Gibney
2.3. Blumenmädchen / Stimme aus der Höhe: Stine Marie Fischer
Mit: Staatsopernchor Stuttgart, Zusatzchor, Kinderchor der Oper Stuttgart, Staatsorchester Stuttgart

This was my fifth visit to this staging, I was there 8 years and 2 days ago (March 28th, 2010), when it premiered, again in April 2010, March 2011 and May 2013. and I will be there most probably, when the Staatsoper in Stuttgart will put it on their schedule again in the future. This for me is a must see, as it casts a different view on how to perceive Parsifal. I’ve written about that elsewhere, so I will not repeat that. Important for me w.r.t. this specific performance:

Klingsor didn’t act as brutally with the flame-thrower as the Premiere-Cast.
Gurnemanz is way more static in his movements then the Premiere-Cast.
Parsifal lacks breath and a bit of humor, but still acts good.

All in all, Bieito’s intensions and powerful message is still available, even after 8 years.

Musically it didn’t stand Manfred Honeck’s Premiere, but this might not be attributed to Sylvain Cambreling. The Brass-Section during the last years in Stuttgart developed some “independence” from the director, they simply do NOT follow, what the director is indicating in their direction. And Cambreling does indicate a lot and easily consumable (I was sitting in Row 1, middle place, so directly behind him, and I could clearly see, what he did!). Also the Brass-section can NOT start pianissimo without an introductory “Pfft”. They are professionals, they should be able to do so. What a difference it was to hear that from the Berliner under Sir Simon less than a week ago. Also Jun was mainly loud, he lacked differentiation, and Kirch, as mentioned above, lacks some breath.

So in total, staging still stunning and a must see, musically less convincing. Still, I’ve seen and heard worse, so overall a time well spent.

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