Madrid, October 20, 2023.
Every year, the Spain National Orchestra offers a major operatic or symphonic-choral title at the Auditorio Nacional de Música, in its symphonic season. Last June, it was a glorious Mahler's 8th Symphony. This season, as the only operatic title, the third act from Richard Wagner's Parsifal, the "sacred-scenic festival" that the maestro composed specially for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. It would be his last opera. It is surprising, we are only offered just a single act as the only opera of the orchestra season, when in past times we have been offered Tristan Und Isolde, The Flying Dutchman, Elektra or Salome. However, for Wagnerites it is still a celebration, because the last time this music was heard in Madrid was during performances of the complete opera at the Teatro Real in April 2016, with the legendary staging by Claus Guth and, featuring Klaus Florian Vogt as the lead of an excellent cast.
Parsifal is not unknown to the Madrid operagoers. Apart from the 2016 performances, it was also seen in concert at the Teatro Real in 2013 with the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, a period instrument orchestra led by Thomas Hengelbrock. In 2001, it was performed by the great Plácido Domingo, Matti Salminen and Agnes Baltsa in the same stage. In its pre-1925 history, it was premiered in 1914, with each singer singing in their respective languages, further performances were done with Francisco Viñas, and in 1921, sung in German for the first time, conducted by Leo Blech. Miguel Fleta was scheduled to sing it in the 1925-26 season, which happened to be cancelled because of building ruining state.
Wagner, after the apotheosis of Tristan und Isolde, the deep human comedy and "Deutschtum" of Die Meistersinger, the epic of the Ring where he portrays human condition, turns his vision towards the struggle between good and evil, represented in the struggle between the respective worlds of Titurel and Klingsor for the power of the Holy Grail, and redemption by faith, in Parsifal. The third act begins amidst desolation: the old order represented by the antagonism between Klingsor and Titurel has fallen after the deaths of their leaders. Gurnemanz, the once powerful and authoritarian Grail Knight is a hermit, Kundry, the wandering sinner who once laughed at Jesus Christ in his martyrdom, is no longer a wild temptress, but a sweet and helpful woman, who does not speak, and finally free from the yoke of Klingsor, who enslaved her. Amfortas, son of Titurel, has lost his mind and does not want to discover the Grail despite the insistence of his decrepit court. It is here when the hero, Parsifal, the pure fool promised by God, despite the fact that he himself became a wanderer after resisting the lustful temptation in the previous act, will come to reestablish order and redeem the sins of his world as Christ redeemed mankind a thousand years before.
Much has been said about the ultimate meaning of the work, and the use that German nationalism and ultraorthodox Wagnerians made of it, after the Wagner's death in 1883. The redeemer chosen by God who redeems a ruined country (which happens to be medieval Spain) and restores order, having as a antagonist a female sinner, a Semitic woman from Judea who laughed at God during his Passion, are among some of the arguments that have led to many biased interpretations. Offstage, the fact that a Jew, Hermann Levi, conducted the Christian opera of the most famous musician in Germany at that time was also a scandal, something increased after Wagner's death (who invited Levi to embrace Christianity), due to the contempt of his wife Cosima and radical Wagnerism, imbued with nationalism, racism and supremacism. The fact that Wagner wanted such a work to be performed only in his theater in Bayreuth, gave this work an aura of cult, the cult of Wagner, which self-proclaimed by nationalist wagnerites as the cult of German culture, of which Cosima Wagner and Bayreuth conservatives became self-proclaimed custodians .For thirty years the "sacred-scenic festival" was exclusive to Bayreuth, and everyone had to travel there (except in the U.S., when it was ilegally premiered in 1903) to hear it live, until January 1914, when all the theaters in the world, including Madrid and Barcelona, premiered it, as the copyright expired, giving Parsifal to the rest of world.
This third act is probably the most static, since in its first scene there are more narrations and reflections from Parsifal and Gurnemanz before the baptism of the seductive Kundry, now silent and obedient, than more dynamic events. There is no longer the majesty of the Grail scene in Act One nor the sensuality in At Two, but rather the calm that precedes the final climax. However, the Prelude and the Good Friday Music, some of the most famous pieces ever composed by Wagner, as well as the heavenly Finale, are present in all their charm. Wagner's ability to portray the mood of heaviness and ruin in the prelude, the solemn funeral ambiance in the interlude between scenes, the descriptive and hopeful music of the first scene, and the exciting redemption at the end with the chorus singing: "Redemption to the redeemer"
Tonight, the orchestra has given a remarkable rendition under David Afkham's baton, confirming itself, once again, as the most suitable orchestra for this repertoire available in the capital. Far from the Germanic depth and majesty (even though Afkham is German himself), maestro Afkham has opted for a dynamic, lyrical version, with more vivid tempi. Indeed, in some occasions conducting goes even a faster, like in the interlude of the third act, which despite this, it sounded spectacular. In the finale, the orchestra gave a moving performance. The strings had a shy stary at the beginning of the prelude, until the bass tremolo announced the climax of the piece, when orchestra reached their peak. Later it would reach a beautiful level, especially while playing the prelude theme during Kundry's baptism, accompanied by the woodwind, this one in perfect shape, just like the brass during the interlude and the climactic scenes, with their sound tending to solemnity, and the most overwhelming moments, sounding accomplished. It's a pity that the bell percussionist could hardly be heard since he was put in the organ, hidden from the orchestral volume, something that affected the interlude. The National Choir of Spain once again impressed with the stamina of its male voices, beginning their intervention from a shy "Geleitet wir..." to a terrifying "Zum letzten mal", in which they ask Amfortas to discover the Holy Grail through last time. Alongside the female voices, the ending chorus resulted moving and ethereal.
Veteran Austrian bass Franz-Josef Selig sang Gurnemanz. Although the voice, now mature, maintains its imposing and authoritative tone, as well as its spectacular low voice, sometimes it becomes covered when the orchestra makes a tutti. Thus, in the beautiful scene in which he meets Kundry, the voice sounds in all its splendor, but on the other hand shows signs of tireness, alternating with spectacular notes, in the famous Good Friday Music scene. Even so, there are few more experienced performers than him for this repertoire and this role.
Parsifal has been performed by the American tenor Bryan Register, still little known in Spain, an emerging name in the Wagnerian tenor scene. However, if his voice has a lyrical, youthful center, which, without being the most beautiful one, does not sound bad, the high notes not always are the most pleasant, and in expressiveness he pales in comparison to Selig in the first part. Even so, that lyrical part suits scenes like the Charm of Good Friday, in which he sound tender.
On the other hand, Tomasz Konieczny, leaves the audience amazed once again, after his excellent performance as Iokanaan in last year's Salome; with his vocal power, with a voice that reaches every corner of the Auditorio, so unfriendly to this instrument. In his brief intervention as the desperate King Amfortas, this Polish bass-baritone wins the audience over with his heartbreaking, desperate performance. Although his vocal tone has a guttural touch that is not always pleasant, it impresses with its massive volume and firm projection,surpassing everyone on stage, in addition to conveying his character's anxiety about death.
Sadly, Kundry's character, so important in the complete opera, in the third act only screams three times and sings "to serve" twice, even though she is present at all times. Although it seemed that she was not going to appear on this occasion, since it was not announced until last week, finally the lyrical soprano and chorister of the CNE Francesca Calero, took the brief intervention.
Parsifal, despite its importance and part of the traditional repertoire, is not a work which has the theatres with the tickets sold out in Spain (unlike Tristan, Lohengrin, or the Ring), and that is why there were several free seats, although it was still highly occupated. But the audience did enthusiastically applaud the concert, this being one of the most awaited in this season, and also remarkably served.
Meanwhile, two thousand kilometers from here, in Berlin, one of the best interpreters of this opera, the legendary mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier, one of the greatest Kundry of all time, has sung tonight the last performance of her long operatic career. Not with a Wagner opera, but with Strauss's Elektra, the same one with which she bid farewell to the Spanish audiences last year, in Barcelona. Although everyone has the right to rest, and she has earned it more than anyone else, her successor in this opera has not yet been established. We will always miss her on stage.
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