# PARZIFAL recommendations, please.



## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

After listening to a friend's recording (Barenboim/Berlin) I am thinking that PARZIFAL may be my favorite work by Wagner. The only other recording I have heard is a VHS pirated copy of the Met's production with Seigfried Jerusalem (I think), Waltraute Meier and Kurt Moll among the cast. I would be very grateful if TC members who are familiar with various recordings of this work might rank their top three choices (or top one or two) and explain why you recommend it over others. Thanks to all who share their opinion and for reading.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Knappertsbush is all I need for that opera.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Solti with the Vienna Philharmonic is a great recording, though I will say it misses much of the 'religious reverence' (?) that some other recordings have. Use that information how you please.


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Anyone familiar with Rafael Kubelik's 'Parzifal'?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Siegfried Jerusalem is one of my favorite tenors, so it's no coincidence that all three of my Parsifal recordings (two DVDs and one CD) feature him in the title role. In addition to the Levine/Met version you heard, there is also a video of an early 1980s Bayreuth production with Eva Randova, Bernd Weikl, and Hans Sotin conducted by Horst Stein.









The CD recording, conducted by Barenboim, also has Waltraud Meier as Kundry. José Van Dam sings Amfortas, with Matthias Hölle as Gurnemanz.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Every recording is a holy inflection of the divine and your choice matters little so long as you perform the required 48 hour fast prior to listening.


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## rsmithor (Jun 30, 2011)

*My Parsifal of choice is Solti/Decca*

Wagner's last opera Parsifal, was the opera that took the longest for me to get a handle on. After hearing and seeing the Met's Parsifal... by the second time, I fell for the act 2... and Solti's Recording... by it self, it's a complete opera that leaves me breathless, time and time again. The fallen castrated Klingsor... Raising the devil women Kundry to do his evil biding and set up the naive Parsifal for a fall. Her awake scream, followed by her mocking words ("Are you chasted?")... Her almost laughing response to her master Klingsor. (hmmm, was that the same laugh that got Kundry her many life times of trouble? The same laugh aimed at Christ while he was bearing the cross to Calvary?) Hearing Christa Ludwig's Kundry, Koltan Keleman's Klingsor, Rene Kollo's Parsifal and the outstanding list of the who's who of flower maidens... sung by Lucia Popp, Alison Hargan, Anne Howells, Kiri Te Kanawa, Gillian Knight, Margarita Lilowa. The flower music is saccharin sweet, and evokes another set of Wagner harpies... those slippery Rhinemaidens from Das Rheingold... yeah... what's not to like?... I luv act 2.

Solti's act three has all the feel of a complete Episcopalian church service (my reference point)… so I embraced Wagner's use of many of those same church rituals, for what they are… good theater... and in the end Parsifal finds redemption... Amen

My Parsifal of choice is Decca/Solti/Kollo/Keleman/Frick/Fischer-Dieskau/Ludwig/Hotter CD
















Solti's Decca Recording Remastered


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Thanks for your post! I too like Jerusalem, I have him in a very fine Staatskapelle Dresden 'Die Walkure' with Marek Janowski conducting a young Jessye Norman, also Jeanine Altmeier, and Kurt Moll _et al_. It is very fine.

The Baremboim, with Berlin, I am familiar with it and is a very fine recording - Waltraud Meier is a perfect Kundry, I thought.



MAuer said:


> Siegfried Jerusalem is one of my favorite tenors, so it's no coincidence that all three of my Parsifal recordings (two DVDs and one CD) feature him in the title role. In addition to the Levine/Met version you heard, there is also a video of an early 1980s Bayreuth production with Eva Randova, Bernd Weikl, and Hans Sotin conducted by Horst Stein.
> 
> View attachment 3922
> 
> ...


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## AmericanGesamtkunstwerk (May 9, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Every recording is a holy inflection of the divine and your choice matters little so long as you perform the required 48 hour fast prior to listening.


PRIORITIES.

Couchie, you're my favorite.


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## REP (Dec 8, 2011)

I rank Knappertsbusch '62 as one of the greatest recordings of anything, ever. Wagner, Parsifal, and Bayreuth all at their best.

http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Parsifal-Knappertsbusch-Richard/dp/B00005IB5N


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Knapp for overall pick

Solti for a studio version.


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