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2024-04-25
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2019-08-20 07:07:26
A provocative production in so many ways, Uwe Eric Laufenberg’s Parsifal was sensitively directed and performed by a brilliant cast
[…] aspect of the work especially at the end of Act I where one witnesses the Christ-like figure of Amfortas (magnificently portrayed by the gifted American bass-baritone, Ryan McKinny) wearing a crown of thorns covered only by a loin-cloth re-enacting the Crucifixion with members of the Brotherhood - now seen as a community of Christian monks - gathered closely round him receiving Holy Communion partaking of the Blood of Christ. Working in partnership with dramaturg Richard Lorber, Mr Laufenberg also rethought the traditional scenario of the work by dumping the setting of Montsalvat - the revered castle of the knights of the Holy Grail in medieval Spain - and switching it to Islamic State’s Middle Eastern-held territory of northern Iraq.A bomb-scarred church provided the setting for Act I (for the mosque featured in Act II a decorative blue-tile wall sufficed) while its sanctuary lamp, used in Christian and Jewish centres of […]
2018-08-19 08:02:00
Bayreuth’s Parsifal provided a sensitive portrayal of humanity overcoming adversity
Richard Wagner Parsifal: Günther Groissböck, Tobias Kehrer, Thomas J Mayer, Elena Pankratova, Andreas Schager, Derek Welton, dir: Uwe Eric Laufenberg, cond: Semyon Bychkov; Bayreuth Festival, Germany Reviewed by Tony Cooper on 14 August 2018 Star rating: 5.0 (★★★★★) A production that underlined and delivered a strong message of unity through a trio of mixed faithsSpecifically written for Bayreuth’s Festspielhaus, Parsifal became Wagner’s final and farewell work to the world completed in January 1882 and first seen in that year. Therefore, this production by German director, Uwe Eric Laufenberg (new in 2016) marks its ninth outing at Bayreuth since its première. On 14 August 2018, Semyon Bychkov conducted, with Thomas J Mayer as Amfortas, Günther Groissböck as Gurnemanz, Andreas Schager as Parsifal and Elena Pankratova as Kundry Working in partnership with dramaturg Richard Lorber, Mr Laufenberg switched the opera’s traditional setting of Montsalvat (the revered castle of the knights […]
2017-08-27 09:58:00
Bayreuth Festival (3) - Parsifal, 25 August 2017
Festspielhaus Amfortas – Ryan McKinny Titurel – Karl-Heinz LehnerGurnemanz – Georg ZeppenfeldParsifal – Andreas SchagerKlingsor – Derek WeltonKundry – Elena PankratovaFirst Knight of the Grail – Tansel AkzeybekSecond Knight of the Grail – Timo RiihonenSquires – Alexandra Steiner, Mareike Morr, Paul Kaufmann Stefan HeibachFlowermaidens – Netta Or, Katharina Persicke, Mareike Morr, Alexandra Steiner, Bele Kumberger, Sophie RennertContralto solo – Wiebke LehmkuhlUwe Eric Laufenberg (director) Gisbert Jäkel (set designs)Jessica Karge (costumes)Reinhard Traub (lighting)Gérard Naziri (video)Richard Lorber (dramaturgy)Bayreuth Festival Chorus (chorus master: Eberhard Friedrich) Bayreuth Festival Orchestra Hartmut Haenchen (conductor) One of the great advantages of the Bayreuth Festival is its Werkstatt principle. Not only do production planning and rehearsal take place in something at least approaching what a festival should be; there is also, crucially, opportunity to revisit, to rethink a staging the following year. Alas, I could see no sign whatsoever of Uwe Eric Laufenberg having done […]