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Finally on DVD, the 1998 production of Wagner’s Parsifal from the Bayreuth Festival. in mystically poetic staging that exerts an unbroken fascination not least as a result of its expressive lighting effects. Conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Wagner’s Grandson Wolfgang Wagner. The four main roles are taken by Poul Elming, Linda Watson, Falk Struckmann and Hans Sotin – one of the strongest line-ups in Bayreuth’s more recent history. First DVD release of this 1998 production. Running Time 268 minutes Picture 16:9, colour Sound PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1 Subtitles German (original language), English, French, Spanish Packaging NTSC: Amaray 2 DVD Booklet English, German, French “impressively atmospheric and gorgeously played” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 **** “the fact that Wolfgang Wagner's production and design are characteristically traditional and unchallenging might actually be a plus-point for many...The long dialogue scene between Kundry and Parsifal is done with outstanding musical and dramatic conviction...Struckmann, Elming and the veteran Hans Sotin are all at their vocal best, while Sinopoli responds to the simplicity of the staging by letting the music speak with maximum expressiveness.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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This production of Parsifal was recorded live at the Zurich Opera House in March 2007. It was hailed by the press as one of the finest Wagner performances in recent years, thanks in part to Bernard Haitink’s gripping presence in the pit. The production by Hans Hollmann is austere in conception; Hans Hoffer’s understated designs using geometric shapes and blocks of colour to emphasise the juxtapositions at the heart of Wagner’s mystical opera – light versus darkness, good versus evil. The effect is beautiful and simple, focussing attention on the music. The excellent international cast of leading Wagnerian singers is headed by Christopher Ventris in the title role and also features Yvonne Naef as a sensuous Kundry and Matti Salminen who was highly acclaimed by the press for his powerful, touching portrayal of the ageing Gurnemanz. Additional features: Produced in HD, to be released in NTSC 16:9; audio will be in 5.1 DTS Surround Sound and PCM stereo. “Musically this is quite the finest Parsifal on DVD, to be heard even if you find the production tiresome. Hans Hollmann may have bizarre ideas about the staging, but he can get singers to act, and the production never impedes the overwhelming intensity of the relationships between the central characters.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Staged by Wolfgang Wagner & Video Director Brian Large “A simple, beautiful staging in glowing stained-glass hues, with Jerusalem and Sotin near-ideal, Kundry and Amfortas slightly less so, but Stein's conducting is soundly theatrical.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2007 ***** “A production and performance that showed the festival at its finest” New York Times “In the simple stylizing of the sets...[Wolfgang Wagner] follows the example of his brother, Wieland, and effectively so...Leif Roar makes a wonderfully sinister Klingsor, singing powerfully. The rest of the cast is comparably strong...Horst Stein is a totally reliable conductor, rising well to the big climaxes of the choral passages” Penguin Guide, 2010 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Subtitles in German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Recorded live at the Festspielhaus, Baden- Baden, Germany, in August 2004.
Ever since the world premiere of Parsifal at Bayreuth on 26th July 1882, the meaning of Richard Wagner’s last opera has been widely discussed. Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s visionary staging of this emotionally charged opera reveals a masterpiece of existential drama about human existence. Christopher Ventris and Waltraud Meier lead an inspired cast in a high definition recording in true surround sound. “It is by a long way the most thoughtful, positive and penetrating view of Parsifal that I have encountered” The Times Bonus features: Illustrated synopsis Cast gallery Parsifal’s Progress: a documentary analysis including interviews with Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Christopher Ventris, Waltraud Meier and many others. Running time 317 mins Region code All regions Video codec: AVC/MPEG-4 Disc size: 2 x BD50 Picture format 1080i High Definition / 16:9 Sound format 2.0 LPCM & 5.1 DTS-Master Audio Menu language EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT “Put simply, it is interpretively, vocally, instrumentally, visually and audibly a most impressive performance of Wagner's final opera...[Nagano's] generally brisk tempos, unerring sense for drama and his ability to point up crucial orchestral detail impart a feeling of urgency, of tension, of passion to the proceedings.” Classical Net “a provocative but effective interpretation, in which the Knights of the Grail are struggling to hang on to life in a post-apocalyptic world (a symbolic meteorite dominates the set in Act I). It's a grim vision, but one that works with the established plot; and Lehnhoff's final suggestion of Parsifal leading the others on to a new life without the organised religion that has so patently failed them is inspiring in these over-zealous times.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2005 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Bronsgeest (Cornelis), Hofmann (Ludwig), Pistor (Gotthelf) Chor und Orchester der Staatsoper, Berlin, Muck (Karl) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, 1992
A new release from the series of Metropolitan Munich. Parsifal represents the culmination of Wagner’s work as a revolutionary composer of opera. In it he created a powerful allegory on the conflict between Christianity and paganism, good and evil, light and dark, physical passion and spiritual abstinence. This dramatic production by the brilliant German stage director Harry Kupfer marked Daniel Barenboim’s appointment as the artistic director of the Berlin State Opera in 1992. The cast is made up of the finest Wagnerian singers of the period, all of whom enjoyed substantial international careers. Barenboim’s superb conducting reveals Wagner’s multi-layered score in all its glory. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Subtitles: German, English, French, Japanese Booklet notes: English, German, French Runnning time: 245 mins “a must for those who love this work...[Elming] is remarkable in the title role, his concentration and reactions on a par with Jon Vickers's and the voice in pristine shape...Meier remains the Kundry of our time and this, her third DVD, is her best...[Tomlinson's] is a magnetic portrayal, all too human and understanding, caring about details...[Barenboim] aims for and reaches the work's humanity without sacrificing grandeur...How magnificent this is!” International Record Review | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | New York 9/4/1960
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| |  | Live recording from the 2007 Tyrolean Festival
Thomas Gazheli (Amfortas), Michael Doumas (Titurel), Manfred Hemm (Gurnemanz), Michael Baba (Parsifal), Michael Kupfer (Klingsor) & Martina Tomcic (Kundry) Orchestra & Chorus of the Tyrolean Festival, Gustav Kuhn Gustav Kuhn’s celebrated Parsifal, recorded live at the Passion Festival Hall, Erl in the summer of 2007, with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Tyrolean Festival. This sublime opera, the final one from Wagner, is beautifully staged in this dramatic and powerful live recording. A first for Col legno - a complete Parsifal on three CDs. | | | (also available to download from $35.25) | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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