Rating: 
Summary: The Parsifal DVD to have
Review: There are currently only two versions of Parsifal available on DVD and this video of a Metropolitan Opera production is better musically than Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's movie version which is lip-synched by actors as well as opera singers. While Syberberg's movie is more politically and sexually charged (the flower maidens are naked) and his sets are quite imaginative, the Prague Philharmonic doesn't match the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra nor do the singers come up to the Met's cast.This video is of a March 1992 production at the MET. The sets are naturalistic and conservative but very impressive. Having seen the production live I can say that the video does a good job of capturing it. Audience noise is minimal but the crowd insists on clapping before the music stops at the end of Act II - a regular, if annoying, ritual at the MET. Some portions of the orchestral shots appear to have been made without an audience present - the spectacular camera angles taken from a boom hovering over the orchestra could never haven been filmed during an actual performance. A minor quibble - the offstage chorus at the end of Act I sounds off the beat and out of tune. They are better at the end of Act III. The SOUND on this DVD is superb. It is offered in PCM stereo, DOLBY DIGITAL, and DTS. Playback in DOLBY DIGITAL is natural with deep but not obtrusive bass; also there is no artifically distracting audio coming from the rear speakers. Presumably DTS is even better but I don't have it. The picture is free of video artifacts, colors natural, and the image is especially detailed in scenes where the cameras were precisely in focus (quite a feat during a live opera production). Annoying was a break in the audio along with a jump in the picture in the middle of Act I on disc 1 and near the end of the orchestral prelude to Act III on disc 2. I believe this is indicative of the laser beam moving from one layer of the disc to another and may not be noticeable on newer DVD players. But the one in Act III could have been more judiciously placed. The big question is LASER DISC versus DVD. Comparing the two with an S-video connection activated (I don't have component video) the DVD version is sharper (you can clearly see the notes on the music sheets in the orchestra) and MOST IMPORTANT, free of video noise - little white and colored dots that show up in particularly dark scenes. Sonically the DOLBY DIGITAL is not that noticable a difference over the LASER sound - if it were it would probably create too obtrusive a bass response. If you own the LASER you probably spent $60 for it several years ago and are wondering if the DVD is worth it. If you want a artifact-free picture, it definitely is.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Film and Acting, but Levine is no Knappertsbusch
Review: There is a lot about this DVD that I love, from the opening footage of Lincoln Center to the ascension of the chandeliers, the stage settings, the extraordinarily convincing acting, the wonderfully clear sound. However, Levine, perhaps seeking to emulate Hans Knappertsbusch in choice of a "langsam" tempo, actually comes off in the opening prelude and several times throughout as sounding as though he has lost his place. Where Kna would draw out the essence, the twilight, the mystique inherent in the mysticism in this wonderful opera, Levine's mob seems to just stop at points. And maybe it's me, but on video, he looks down at the score, so maybe, just maybe, he did forget. Maybe it's a cultural thing. New York tends to overwhelm whatever it does, that sometimes the more subtle and fragile essences are lost. That should send most New Yorkers into a frenzy. Anyway, Parsifal had its first performance outside of Bayreuth in NY with the Met, so the return in 1993 was a return effected with an homage to, though not a replication of, the directions the composer had issued for the production. The scenery is great. As you watch the singers perform, they inhabit their roles with conviction. Lighting is dramatic. In fact the whole experience is very much one of great wonder and joy to be part of. On DVD, it sparkles! I am likely ruined by Kna's 1962 performance, made in the certain knowledge that he was dying himself. On CD, that is the performance to own. You will feel your heart being pulled from your chest. The essence of the philosophical issues and the human questions presented in the music and text were cleared and presented by an artist as iconclastic, independent and as visionary as anyone to ever take up the baton. The orchestra and the singers knew the drama on the page and from the podium and played and sang as I've never heard in any other production. How could NY hope to match that? You would have to be German and would have to have lived in Kna's soul. All the same, this is a remarkable document of a work that asked so many questions about the nature of one's heart and soul. I enjoyed this enormously and would think that all lovers of this opera will find elements to embrace passionately in this production.
Rating:
Summary: Traditional production that would please anybody
Review: This is a traditionally staged version from the Met. Somebody complained about the slow tempi by Levine, but, I think this tempi also works fine. All the Wagner's opera could be conducted in different ways and, if you like this tempi or the other, it's all up to your musical taste (e.g. Bernstein's slow Tristan is as much appreciated as the fast Boehm's). It's not like Solti's magnificent CD set, not even better than Armin Jordan's conducting in Syberberg's film version, though, I have nothing to complain about it.
The cast in this production is impressive. Weikl, Moll, Rootering, all the legends are here. There would be no one who could portray Kundry better than Meier, both physically and musically at the same time. She is terrific, expressive, powerful, above all, beautiful. Jerusalem is okay. Vocally excellent, but, not a good actor... well, at least he is good looking.
The video transfer could have been better, while the sound is excellent and includes DTS. Thank God it didn't fall in the hands of dreadful Pioneer Classics! Image Entertainment could have done a better job?? There are optional subtitles in five languages including the original German. This set includes some special features & booklet with pictures. Nice presentation.
Now there are two DVD version of Parsifal. Me, being the biggest fan of Parsifal, I got them both. Which one is better? It's a hard question. Musically Syberberg's film version has no comparison, otherwise both are so great and so different. Get them both!
Rating: 
Summary: Music-drama it is not
Review: Unconvincing acting from Jerusalem and Weikl, insufficient seductive beauty from the Flower Maidens, ridiculous coughing from the audience and the "End of Act II Fiasco" as already mentioned by another reviewer are only some of the problems with this production. But above all else, the staging is a bore. Couldn't Parsifal be done as a film instead of these cheesey sets? Thus, we are left with Wagner's glorious music and not much else. Still enjoy Kurt Moll's voice though so 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: 'Waltraud Meier' and 'Siegfried Jerusalem',are the stars!!!!
Review: When I saw her name 'Waltraud Meier' listed,I said wow! I've seen her performance as 'Kundry' at 'Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin',conductor Daniel Barenboim. She again reprises her role as 'Kundry',last time with co-star 'Poul Elming'(as Parsifal),this time with 'Siegfried Jerusalem'(as Parsifal). Very mind blowing,under 'James Levine',we should get as good a performance as we got from conductor 'Daniel Barenboim'. Your awesome Waltraud Meier!!!!
| 
