Product Details

• Actors: Siegfried Jerusalem, Bernd Weikl, Eva Randova, Hans Sotin, Leif Roar
• Directors: Horst Stein
• Format: NTSC, DTS Surround Sound, Surround Sound, Subtitled
• Language: German (DTS 5.1), German (PCM Stereo), Unknown (Dolby Digital 5.1), Unknown (PCM Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: German, English, Spanish, French
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
• DVD Release Date: September 11, 2007
• Run Time: 232 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000PC1N4A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,888 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

WAGNER:PARSIFAL - DVD Movie

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

123 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Close to definitive., August 4, 2007

By 

Snake Man "The unmentionable one" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wagner - Parsifal (DVD)

Finally the quest for the holy grail is over: A performance/production of Parsifal on Dvd that is really worth investing in and really helps you appreciate that in fact Parsifal IS a great opera. Whereas the 1951-1964 staging of Wieland Wagner at Bayreuth is regarded by many as the best of the post-war Parsifal productions (at least from Bayreuth), this production on dvd is probably the best you will ever get to see. This is more the case now that Bayreuth itself is being used as a publicity centre for young opera-hating stage designers who wish to forge a career in film via generating the absolute maximum of notoriety they can muster through their perverted productions.

My knowledge of Parsifal is limited to the Nagano Dvd and the Levine/New York Met production (similar to the first reviewer here). I have a few recordings on cd(Von Karajan, Knappertsbusch (1962), Levine) and have witnessed a few live productions including recently the abomination that is the anti-Wagner 2004 Bayreuth production. I can say that, regarding dvds, whereas the Nagano production suffers from: a) conducting that seems to me to lack feeling and, b) from being another silly modern stage, and while the Levine production is: a) sluggish with unimaginative tempi and, b) lacking in dramatic effect, this Bayreuth version is conducted with pace by Stein but is nevertheless replete with ethereal atmospheric effect induced by a really effective layering of the score, the staging is perfect - not cluttered, but scenic and in fact beautiful - and individual performances in terms of singing and acting are really first rate.

Ultimately this recording illustrates how fundamental it is to adhere, at least to a reasonable degree, to Wagner's stage instructions to maximize not only dramatic effect but, I believe, also to bring out the sheer beauty of the music. Stein, backed by an excellent orchestra, conducts well for sure but the fact that there is real synthesis between music and drama - the gesamtkunstwerk of which Wagner extolled - really does serve to facilitate both: the music seems more apt and imbued with significance, the drama simultaneously drives and is driven by the music. The music and the drama make sense when harmonized in this manner - a far cry from many, if not most modern stagings, such as a recent live production I saw that was set in an institution for the mentally ill; in what way is the noble, mystical music of the knights befitting of a congregation of nutters in a loony bin!?!?! Ridiculous!

I have to say I hate modern productions and they are potentially killing off new generations of would-be Wagner enthusiasts. The difference in effect on a Wagner neophyte seeing this Bayreuth production as compared to seeing one of the dodgy modern translations would be palpable - it is essentially the difference between rendering the opera quasi transcendental and rendering it an absurdity. That modern stagers think they can outdo the work of a genius who made it his life-time obsession to perfect every last detail of his mature opera works is in itself absurd! Wieland Wagner is perhaps singled out as the stage director who most appropriately deviated from Wagner's and Bruckner's original stage design to produce something more minimalistic - arguably appropriate - and this staging might be regarded as a compromise of the two approaches. Not that the magic of a Bayreuth staging is impermeable to the contaminating filth induced by the egos and self-publicizing anti-Wagnerism of modern designers in the form of unsophisticated kitsch. The present Bayreuth production offers a post-apocalyptic setting that shows Klingsor, at the end of act 2, rather than being defeated by Parsifal, aiding Parsifal in killing Kundry with the sacred spear and then escaping in a spaceship to reappear in act 3 - Parsifal then basically kills everyone including himself at the end of act 3!

Now for some details:
As I have mentioned the staging is excellent and the dramaturgy pretty much faultless throughout.
Siegfried Jerusalem is absolutely excellent as Parsifal here. He is about 12 years younger than in the Levine/Met Opera Dvd version which I think makes all the difference since we must assume that 'der reine tor' is not a man well into his fifties. Furthermore, he seems to be vocally at his peak here; his voice is powerful and perfectly nuanced and controlled. His acting is appropriate for Parsifal who must come over as being naive but not an imbecile (by contrast I have seen Jerusalem play Siegfried, a character not dissimilar to Parsifal in many ways, as an imbecile in Dvd versions of Siegfried and Gotterdammerung).
Sotin as Gurnemanz and Weikl as Amfortas are also perfect both in terms of singing and acting. Sotin is much subtler than, for example, Kurt Moll in the Met production whose 'acting' appears to revolve around glancing at the conductor every five seconds for guidance. As Amfortas Weikl looks and plays the part and his interaction with the Knights in the two grail scenes has a real visceral edge to it lacking in other productions.
Randova as Kundry, for the most part, is also excellent. I would agree with the first reviewer here that her voice is perhaps insufficiently sweet to be convincingly seductive in Act 2. This is something of a fault and lacks the power of Waltraud Meier's performance in the Levine Dvd. You can understand Parsifal's struggle to remain 'pure' when confronted with the lyrical and visual treat of Meier but not quite so much with Randova although she is not exactly weak in this respect. The flower-maiden scene is done so well that this somewhat compensates for the relative lack of 'seduction effect'. Randova is very good, however, as the wretched alter-ego of Kundry, her screams of anguish seem pertinent rather than melodramatic.

Some small gripes. In the final scene Kundry is supposed to fall 'lifeless to the ground' - this does not happen here and I think it is a fault albeit not a debilitating one. The beam of light, used in other productions, that should fall on the grail when in the office of Parisfal is also lacking which I think somewhat detracts from dramatic effect and the significance of the work.
I can live with these omissions as I can with Randova's less than particularly seductive voice in the 2nd act because everything else is spot on.

So, in a nutshell, if you want a more or less traditional Wagner rendition of Parsifal that synthesizes music and drama as facilitated by truly excellent acting and singing engendering perfectly the atmospheric effect I believe Wagner would have wanted, then you MUST buy this. It is Wagner's gesamtkunstwerk at about as high a degree as you are likely to see - probably on dvd or any performance live now that the evil Wagner hating modernist stagers have saturated the opera world.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for the music, August 30, 2007

By 

Maurice D'Archonnoir "Narcisse" (Istanbul) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wagner - Parsifal (DVD)

But less for the staging.. It's true that the staging here leaves the first place to the music which is great especially for a magnificent work like Parsifal. But as you know these bayreuth videos are captured without the audience and we are expecting quite rightfully more dynamics in the staging. It's very colorful and elegant with gorgeous set designs but very reluctant and lacks some dynamics especially in the second act. The singers are standing stonelike which is certainly deliberate but somehow disturbing.
But Stein, the great wagnerian, with electrfying conducting, makes us forgive and forget these flaws. Norbert Balasch who is the chorus master in all the bayreuth video productions, drives the choir to a divine level as usual. Singers are also first rate save for acting (Randova especially).
Sound quality and video directions are excellent for sure, all in all this is a great parsifal,conducted and sang by great wagnerians and it's from bayreuth, the wagner temple which makes this an indispensable video. But it's not the definitive one. I would love to see that performing crew with otto schenk's magnificent staging for met; That would have been the definitive one for sure.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant interpretation\Pseudo-Tradional success, September 11, 2007

By 

Ryan Morris "classical terrorist" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wagner - Parsifal (DVD)

This Parsifal is conducted by the brilliant but little known Bayreuth\Wagner genius Horst Stein. Those familiar with Steins Die Meistersinger know to expect great things with this Parsifal, finally transferred to DVD-adding considerable quality to the old VHS. Stein, in both this and the Meistersinger(both traditional) is as unique and inspired as the Met\Levine versions are dull and boorish. Both are pseudo-traditional, which is why they make for good comparisons, as well as Jerusalems role as Parsifal and Weikl as Amfortas.
Lets begin with Gurnemanz. Hans Sotin does a marvelous job-On a personal level I adore Kurt Molls booming and uniquely cavernous voice best with Kubelik, second to only Hotter. But Moll sounds strained on the Levine CD and only slightly better on the DVD though Sotin is a far better actor. Most other aspects(with the possible exception of Kundry(Randova\Meier) of the Stein are superior to Levine. Jerusalem is in much better voice and as an actor(good knows we can barely call it that) but here he is much more believable and likeable and his voice still has the ability to oscillate without any stress(the last true heldentenor). Eva Randova is a good Kundry-though I am so tired of this character portrayed as nothing more than a writhing screaming "mime"esque thing we feel no pity or remorse for and can identify with even less. I have, to date, never been satified with any visual representation of her though on disc she has been well served.
Bernd Weikl has been the Amfortas of choice for over 25 years now and is in better voice with Stein-though no one will ever compare to the Phillips\KNA performance by London-though Morris was close-(just listen to the first phrase in praise of the morning-one of the most beautifully sung passages I have ever heard and an early inclination of how any interpretation will progress.
Bayreuth, of course, plays splendidly though actually the Levine Met of the early 90's were probaly better(that specific Bayreuth Orch had just dealt with significant changes and alterations and was still returning to form while the Met had become one of the most consistently reliable and flawless operatic orchs in the entire world-if not the best.
Most importantly, however, is how do the conductors fair?-and again, those who have heard Steins Meistersinger know what to expect-for those who havent-Stein is a Wagnerian of the first order-probably the best Bayreuthian no one has heard of. For those familiar with Levine, on the otherhand, know that his Wagner is very unpredictable in quality because it is so predictable. His Lohengrin is, in my opinion, excellent and his ring cycle is great besides hildegard behrens awful Brunnhilde and his Tannhauser is pretty good. However-they all have similar flws that are directly the fault of the conductor in terms of the flow, excitement, and feeling. I do not think anyone can argue though that he always produces a beautiful sound. But Levine conjues one of the most boorish and uninspired Parsifal DVDs I have heard. The tempos drag to almost unbearable speed, pushing the audience to its limit. This is one score that, though theoretically would seem to become "deeper" and more "profound" the slower it gets, but really it needs a natural impetus- a natural, springlike feel to make it succeed. There are moments that benefit from a introspective approach-though god help anyone who speeds through the Transformation music---but most vocal interaction benefits from a fluid approach.
Levine's CD is saved by an all-star cast(barely)I am a sucker for James Morris(amfortas) buttery inflection, but the DVD suffers because one must judge it entirely(visual as well as aural.)
In conclusion-this is the first choice of any Parsifal-especially for those who prefer a traditional approach. But also for seasoned Wagnerites who know the work. There is so much beauty to the performance and so much more drama it will stay with you for a long time. For those wanting a CD recommendation-I strongly urge you to buy the KNappertsbusch performance recently remastered or the Kubelik(with many similar cast members as both the stein and the Levine), or the Karajan, or Barenboim.
He Ho.