On Wednesday night, we went to hear the new production of Parsifal at the Met. It was a long evening, starting with dinner in the Grand Tier restaurant at 4 PM and ending just before midnight. Parsifal might be the ultimate Wagnerian opera; it is problematic, to say the least. The plot could probably be described in a paragraph, and parts of it stretch time out to an extremely slow pace, and characters reflect endlessly on their situation. The Wagnerian view of Christianity is confusing, and ultimately, I ended up not looking at the surtitles. The last act, however, contains what is to me some of the most sublime music I have ever heard, and the orchestra and singing were nothing short of superb. The production itself sets the opera in a kind of post-apoclyptic landscape; barren ground and barely any light. Non-stop gloom, in fact. The second act is set in a kind of cave, with the entire stage covered in a pool of blood. When one of the characters sings about all the flowers around, there are none to be seen. While the sets and video projections (including some 2001-like cosmic images) are stunning, the relentless gloom and darkness get to you after a while. But ultimately, it is about the music, and to hear Wagner's music played and sung in a performance of such intensity is a thrilling experience. Though not one I would want to repeat very often.
A few images
The pool of blood, and the flower maidens, in a very wide screen image:
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