Reviews

Parsifal (Norwich)

The brief season by Theater Freiburg at the Theatre Royal, Norwich opens with Wagner’s “Parsifal”. Right from its première it has proved problematic to stage.

Sigrun Schell (foreground) and Roberto Gionfriddo (above).
Sigrun Schell (foreground) and Roberto Gionfriddo (above).
© MAURICE KORBEL

It would be hard to fault the musical side of Frank Hilbrich's production of Parsifal, brought to Norwich's Theatre Royal from Freiburg. Fabrice Bollen commands the orchestral and vocal forces of the Theater Freiburg to magnificent effect. This is ensemble opera to a very high standard.

If Wagner's music reaches for the sublime, his text presents a challenge to the director. This is one of those operas where people talk at each other, rather than converse equally, and the libretto's blend of medieval mysticism, folk lore and chivalric brotherhoods is complex, to say the least.

The surtitles used don't help; they suggest a literal 19th century translation which at times is titter-inducing. Hilbrich and his designers Volker Thiele and Gabriele Rupprecht offer us a vaguely modern post-apocalyptic nightmare world where anarchy threatens at many levels.

Against this, the singers provide a vibrant level of power, acting physically as well as vocally. Sigrun Schell dominates as Kundry, heart-breaking in her mental pain vocalised in her three great narrations – which reflects the physical torment of Juan Orozco's Amfortas. notably in "Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen".

Gurnemanz is brought three-dimensional life by Frank van Hove, a sure guide through the plot labyrinth. Roberto Gionfriddo's Parsifal has the right puppydog bumbling for the carefree boy who has to learn the lessons of manhood; we watch and listen to his transformation into the future redeemer king with comprehension.

Both Jin Seok Lee's Titurel and Ks Neal Schwantes' Klingsor are fine characterisations. The bevy of chorus-line Flower Maidens weave an odd kind of magic, which works in this context as much as another. At the end of the evening it is the musical side of the production which occupies our minds as well as our ears. But can there ever be a satisfactory staging of Parsifal?

Parsifal is repeated at the Theatre Royal, Norwich on 25 July.