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The Daily Telegraph, August 11, 2017 |
Steve Moffatt, Wentworth Courier |
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Wagner: Parsifal, Sydney, 9. August 2017 |
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Jonas Kaufmann brings a positive glow to Opera Australia's concert hall Parsifal
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TAKING on the role of Wagner's “perfect fool” Parsifal in an evening suit is a bit like asking your soprano to sing Carmen in sensible shoes.
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It shouldn’t work, but when your tenor is German superstar Jonas Kaufmann
supported by a top-notch international and local cast under the astute baton
of noted Wagnerian Pinchas Steinberg, it becomes an awe-inspiring night.
Everyone — from singers to the Opera Australia Orchestra, chorus and
children’s choir — was on top form for this first of three performances of
Wagner’s last opera. And the audience loved it too. Stretching out to a
little under five and a half hours, including a 45-minute and 30-minute
interval, it is an endurance test, but the packed house stayed to the end
with few exceptions.
Kaufmann, of course, was the star attraction
with a gold standard voice across the range. But he also showed his acting
skills as the hero transforms from a childlike innocent who shoots down a
swan to a man who discovers his identity and saves the knights of the Holy
Grail from the machinations of the evil magician Klingsor.
SPINE-TINGLING
American mezzo soprano Michelle DeYoung was perfect as
Kundry, a woman cursed to eternity for laughing at Christ’s crucifixion and
an unwilling pawn in Klingsor’s web of intrigue. The pivotal scene where she
attempts unsuccessfully to seduce Parsifal was superbly realised, her
visceral aria with its dramatic leaps was spine-tingling.
Another
international star, Korean bass Kwangchul Youn, gave a wonderful
multi-layered performance as Gurnemanz, the old knight who realises that
Parsifal could be the fool who saves the king, Amfortas, who is
incapacitated after Klingsor wounds him with the Holy Spear.
The home
grown baritones were also very impressive, with Michael Honeyman, fresh from
his triumph as the lead in King Roger, superb as the anguished Amfortas, and
Warwick Fyfe exuding evil and menace in the role of the villainous sorcerer.
Young bass David Parkin — winner of the Operatunity Oz competition —
brought gravitas to the role of the king’s father, Titurel.
Some
light relief comes in the second act when six coquettish flower maidens try
to get off with Parsifal, nicely done by Stacey Alleaume, Jane Ede, Anna
Dowsley, Eva Kong, Julie Lea Goodwin and Dominica Matthew.
Steinberg’s judgment of tempo was spot-on, slow enough for the long-breathed
lines of instruments and voices, but never dragging.
The lack of
visual action in the religious ceremonies in this concert performance did
mean the dramatic effect was somewhat lessened but effective use of lighting
and the addition of surtitles did offer some compensation.
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