Wagner - Parsifal / Meier, Jerusalem, Hölle, van Dam, von Kannen, Tomlinson, Berlin Phil., Barenboim

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
It's a commonplace that Daniel Barenboim has done some of his best directing in Berlin, not Chicago, as this recording of Parsifal with the Berlin Phliharmonic attests. Wagner's score is fiendishly difficult--it's perhaps the composer's most delicate music--and Barenboim's decidedly intellectual temperament is complementary. The soloists (José van Dam, Siegfried Jerusalem, John Tomlinson, and Waltraud Meier) are superb. For me, Meier's startling, toneless gasp at the beginning of the third act--the first human sound after the ravishing orchestral introduction--is alone worth the price of this record. --Joshua Cody

Wagner - Parsifal / Meier, Jerusalem, Hölle, van Dam, von Kannen, Tomlinson, Berlin Phil., Barenboim, Music, Richard Wagner, Daniel Barenboim, Waltraut Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem, Berliner Philharmoniker, Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin, José van Dam, Cornelius Hauptmann, Matthias Holle, Pamela Coburn, Sally Burgess, Daniela Bechly, Constance Hauman, Classical, Classical Music, German/Austrian Romantic Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta

Wagner - Parsifal / Meier, Jerusalem, Hölle, van Dam, von Kannen, Tomlinson, Berlin Phil., Barenboim
Average customer rating:

The best digital Parsifal that I know.

In this masterpiece good isn't good enough

Feedback to the admin

A Parsifal that is far from perfect

Very good indeed

Wagner - Parsifal / Meier, Jerusalem, Hölle, van Dam, von Kannen, Tomlinson, Berlin Phil., Barenboim
Richard Wagner , Daniel Barenboim , Waltraut Meier , Siegfried Jerusalem , Berliner Philharmoniker , Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin , José van Dam , Cornelius Hauptmann , Matthias Holle , Pamela Coburn , Sally Burgess , Daniela Bechly , and Constance Hauman
Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Barenboim, Daniel | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde / Meier, Jerusalem, Lipovsek, Struckmann, Heilmann, Botha; Barenboim

Parsifal (Slipcase)

Wagner: Parsifal

Richard Wagner: Parsifal

Strauss - Salome / Studer, Rysanek, Hiestermann, Terfel, Bieber, A. Murray, Sinopoli

ASIN: B000000SFK
Release Date: 1991-10-11

Tracks:

Parsifal: Vorspiel
Parsifal: Act 1: He! Ho! Waldhueter ihr (Gurnemanz, Erster un zweiter Ritter, Erster un sweiter Knappe, Kundry)
Parsifal: Recht so! - Habt Dank! Ein wenig Rast (Amfortas, Zweiter, Ritter, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Nicht Dank! - Haha! Was wird es helfen? (Kundry, Dritter, und vieter Knappe, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: O wunden-wundervoller heiliger Speer! (Gurnemanz, Knappen)
Parsifal: Titurel, der fromme Held, der kannt' ihn wohl (Knappen, Ritter, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Weh! Weh!... Wer ist der Frevler? (Knappen, Ritter, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Nun sag! Nichts weisst du (Parsifal, Gurnemanz, Kundry)

Tracks:

Parsifal: Vom Bade kehrt der Koenig heim (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
Parsifal: (Verwandlungmusik)
Parsifal: Nun achte wohl und lass mich seh'n (Gurnemanz, Gralsritter, Junglinge, Knaben)
Parsifal: Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt? (Titurel, Amfortas, Knaben, Junglinge, Ritter)
Parsifal: Enthuellet den Gral! (Titurel, Stimmen, Knaben)
Parsifal: Wein und Brot des letzten Mahles (Knaben Junglinge, Ritter, Gurnemanz, Altstimme, Stimmen)

Tracks:

Parsifal: Act 2: Vorspiel - Prelude
Parsifal: Die Zeit ist da (Klingsor)
Parsifal: Ach! Ach! Tiefe Nacht! (Kundry, Klingsor)
Parsifal: Hier war das Tosen! Hier, hier! (Madchen I. und II. Gruppe, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Komm, komm, holder Knabe! (Madchen I. und II. Gruppe, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Parsifal! - Weile! (Kundry, Parsifal, Madchen I. und II. Gruppe)
Parsifal: Dies alles - hab' ich nun getraeumt? (Parsifal, Kundry)
Parsifal: Ich sah das Kind (Kundry)
Parsifal: Wehe! Wehe! Was tat ich? Wo war ich? (Parsifal, Kundry)
Parsifal: Amfortas! Die Wunde! (Parsifal, Kundry)
Parsifal: Grausamer! Fuehlst du im Herzen nur and'rer Schmerzen (Kundry, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Vergeh, unseliges Weib! (Parsifal, Kundry, Klingsor)

Tracks:

Parsifal: Act 3: Vorspiel
Parsifal: Von dorther kam das Stoehnen (Gurnemanz, Kundry)
Parsifal: Heil dir, mein Gast! (Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Heil mir, dass ich dich wiederfinde! (Parsifal, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: O Herr! War es ein Fluch, der dich vom rechten Pfad vertrieb (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Nicht so! Die heil'ge Quelle selbst erquicke unsres Pilgers Bad (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Gesegnet sei, du Reiner, durch das Reine! (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Wie duenkt mich doch die Aue (Parsifal, Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Du siehst, das ist nicht so (Gurnemanz, Parsifal)
Parsifal: Mittag. Die Stund' ist da (Gurnemanz)
Parsifal: Geleiten wir im bergenden Schrein... (Ritter)
Parsifal: Ja, Wehe! Wehe! Weh' ueber mich! (Amfortas, Ritter)
Parsifal: Nur eine Waffe taugt (Parsifal)
Parsifal: Hoechsten Heiles Wunder! (Knaben, Junglinge, Ritter)

Amazon.com essential recording

It's a commonplace that Daniel Barenboim has done some of his best directing in Berlin, not Chicago, as this recording of Parsifal with the Berlin Phliharmonic attests. Wagner's score is fiendishly difficult--it's perhaps the composer's most delicate music--and Barenboim's decidedly intellectual temperament is complementary. The soloists (José van Dam, Siegfried Jerusalem, John Tomlinson, and Waltraud Meier) are superb. For me, Meier's startling, toneless gasp at the beginning of the third act--the first human sound after the ravishing orchestral introduction--is alone worth the price of this record. --Joshua Cody

Customer Reviews:

The best digital Parsifal that I know........2006-02-02

Wagner's interpretation has a lot of fans that are not very open-mind to new ways of performing the works of the great Richard. This affects conducting, playing and singing and those listeners use to be much more closed to a kind of performances that come from the XIXth Century tradition, having the climax in the figure of Hans Knappertsbusch.

This is clearly a Parsifal in a different line, a modern version of a piece that can be played, of course, in different ways and not only in the very mystical Kna did. This Barenboim's performance is deep, very Germanic and perfect from the technical point of view, as it was his Tristan und Isolde, released by Teldec too and which is, together with this Parsifal one of the best recordings Barenboim did in his years with Berlin. Daniel Barenboim is, in my opinion the greatest Wagnerian conductor in our days, as his cycle of Wagner's works for Teldec shows, or as you can watch and listen in his just released DVD with the Walküre.

The orchestra is a glory made sound, and you remember it's the BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER, not the Staatsoper, like other reviewers wrote. In my opinion the German orchestra is the finest in the world, so you can imagine how great is them playing in this CD, in a moment of great shape under a baton they know very well. I simply can not imagine a performance like this in a live recording, so the miracle made sound is clear, with all the dynamics, tones, tempi... perfectly described.

The voices are really great, despite all those who can listen only the old recordings, Wagner allows everything and this is a marvellous way of singing the main roles, like Jerusalem or van Dam shows. About Waltrud Meier I can only say that her Kundry is the best I know, as she was too the best Isolde I know. The rest of the cast is very good and very well balanced, with deep and technical voices very well chosen for the kind of interpretation Barenboim does.

As I wrote some lines above, a performance of Parsifal is just a part of the different possibilities the works offer, so if you want to know it well you will need to listen some other performances, especially Knappertsbusch (Teldec and Philips, in my opinion) and Solti (Decca), mainly. Karajan is quite good, but because of the orchestra, but anyway I prefer Berlin in this recording. Levine.... The best thing you can do is to forget Levine conducting Wagner, except for the voices, his conducting is really poor.

The recording is very good, digital, something very important in this work in which the pianissimos has a very important role in creating the different atmospheres required. The balance between voices and orchestra is perfect and it's recorded like if it was a concert, so you can listen the singers moving on the stage through your loudspeakers. The libretto is very, very good too.

One of the better Parsifal and technically the best one.

In this masterpiece good isn't good enough.......2005-09-25

Of all the Wagner operas, the one that has received the most inspired producitons on CD is Parsifal. We have two great Karajan readings (one live on RCA from the archives of the Vienna State Opera, the other a studio recording on DG--probably the greatest of all), and at least four by Knapertsbusch, each vying for classic status. Among the "not great but very good ones" there is Solti on Decca and Levine on DG, the latter with Domingo and Jessye Norman in signature roles.

So even though this is probably Barenboim's best Wagner opera on CD, it is merely good. The sound is the best thing about it, being very full and clear, ahead of any of the above-mentioned sets except for the Levine. Jerusalem doesn't naturally have a large enough voice for Parsifal, but he sings very expertly, as does Meier, although I am no fan of her curdled tones.

As for Barenboim, he keeps his worst habits under control and strives for once to let Wagner speak for himself. The overall result is a good performance. Why critics rave over this set, however, is beyond me. Recommended if you are fans of the principal singers or the conductor.

Feedback to the admin.......2003-04-04

Several weeks ago I wrote a rather long review on this recording. It was my first review here, and probably the last one as well -- seeing that it was never posted.

As far as I can tell, my review adhered very strictly to your review guidelines. It is not very encouraging to write a longish review that simply goes down the drain. At least at the moment I do not feel like writing any more reviews for your site. Can you at least give me a reason why my review was rejected (except for the fact that I did not unilaterally praise the recording)?

Thank you for your time.

A Parsifal that is far from perfect.......2001-04-27

I must confess to being disappointed with this Parsifal. Barenboim's recording of Lohengrin is excellent, and I have liked his work at the Berliner Staatsoper; so I took the plunge and went for his Parsifal.

My main gripe is, however, not with the conducting, singing, or playing, but with technical aspects of the recording itself. The levels, as one other reviewer has noted, are *way* off. Much of Klingsor's evil is muted because the level at which von Kannen was recorded is far too low. The same holds true for the levels at which van Dam and Tomlinson were recorded. By contrast, the choral parts are overwhelming. My mental image of this Parsifal is that I am sitting in the Staatsoper toward the back of the house, and the chorus is sitting next to me, the principal singers are way off at the back of the stage, and the orchestra is strung out between us.

My second gripe is with Barenboim's excessive restraint. He grasps well the delicacy of the score, but at points holds back the sheer power of the music. The lushness of Klingsor's pleasure garden is muted somewhat -- a garden of pastels rather than technicolor monstrosity. And the utter collapse of the illusion at the end of Act II is restrained is too restrained as well. One lacks the feeling that an entire world has just fallen in on itself to reveal a barren desert behind the facade.

The orchestral playing lacks the sheer depth and timbre of the Met orchestra's recent recording under Levine. But that says nothing more than that the Staatsoper is not the Met.

Perhaps these shorcomings would be less apparent in a live recording or at a performance, but here on CD, they matter.

Nonetheless, Meier's Kundry is lovely -- alternating between exhaustion and ecstasy each overlaid with self-loathing, and Jerusalem is very good too.

On the whole this is not a bad recording. But except for Meier, it does not live up to the praise it has garnered.

Very good indeed.......2001-03-09

Sure, Baremboim is no Knappterbusch, Krauss or Furtwangler, but as Wagner conductors come these days, he is very good indeed. His beautiful reading of Parsifal is well thought out, the marvelous Berliner Philharmoniker play as well gor him as they did for Karajan 20 years ago. Baremboim's cast has a great strength: the Kundry of Waltraud Meier, one of the finest ever recorded. Siegfried Jerusalem is good too and far preferable to many of his peers. Van Dam is a great Amfortas, but he was in fresher voice for Karajan. If you want a digital Parsifal you will have to choose between this and the Karajan set. Karajan's trump card is the formidable Gurnemanz of Kurt Moll, his tenor is just about the equal of Baremboim's, but his Kundry good as she is can't quite match the eroticism of Meier. The Karajan recording is early digital, the sound a little bit cool and analytical, the Baremboim is better recorded, more natural and warmer. Both are very collectable recordings.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Music Review

I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 1, Op. 7 / Symphony No. 6 "Sinfonia Semplice" - Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Michael Schonwandt

Capricci a Tre Voci

Tranceport

Defected D-Fused, Vol. 3

Christmas Carols

Bonga Wanga [Import]

Bitter Sweet Symphony [CD-single] [Import]

Blind [CD-single] [Import]

Bizet: Carmen / de Los Angeles, Gedda, Micheau, E. Blanc; Beecham

Dream [Import]

Aleste

Asi de Loco

Animal House: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Enhanced CD]