Product Overview
Wagner: Parsifal / René Kollo, Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig, Zoltan Kélémen, Hans Hotter / Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti / Decca 5x LP Stereo
SET 550-4
Parsifal (WWV 111) is an opera in three acts by German composer Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12th century).
Wagner conceived the work in April 1857, but did not finish it until 25 years later. It was his last completed opera, and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on Parsifal productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Wagner described Parsifal not as an opera, but as Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage"). At Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that audiences do not applaud at the end of the first act.
Wagner's spelling of Parsifal instead of the Parzival he had used up to 1877 is informed by one of the theories about the name Percival, according to which it is of Persian origin, Parsi (or Parseh) Fal meaning "pure (or poor) fool".
Tracklist:
| Parsifal | |||
| A | Prelude - Act 1 (Part 1); "He! Ho! Waldhuter Ihr, Schlafhuter Mitsammen" |
27:02 | |
| B | Act 1 (Part 2); "He! Du Da! Was Liegst Du Dort Wie Ein Wildes Tier?" |
24:05 | |
| C | Act 1 (Part 3); "Weh! Weh! Hoho! Auf!" |
28:18 | |
| D | Act 1 (Conclusion); "Mein Sohn Amfortas, Bist Du Im Amt?" | 31:46 | |
| E | Act 2 (Part 1); "Die Zeit Ist Da" |
21:37 | |
| F | Act 2 (Part 2); "Komm, Komm, Holder Knabe!" |
20:55 | |
| G | Act 2 (Conclusion); "Bekenntnis Wird Schuld In Reue Enden" |
27:30 | |
| H | Act 3 (Part 1); "Von Dorther Kam Das Stohnen" |
27:43 | |
| I | Act 3 (Part 2); "Die Heil'ge Speisung Bleibt Uns Num Versagt" |
28:49 | |
| J | Act 3 (Conclusion); "Geleiten Wir Im Bergenden Schreinden..." |
21:16 |
- Alto Vocals [Altstimme] – Birgit Finnilä
- Alto Vocals [First Esquire] – Rotraud Hansmann
- Alto Vocals [Second Esquire] – Marga Schiml
- Baritone Vocals [Amfortas] – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
- Baritone Vocals [Bass-baritone - Klingsor] – Zoltan Kélémen
- Bass Vocals [Gurnemanz] – Gottlob Frick
- Bass Vocals [Second Knight] – Herbert Lackner
- Bass Vocals [Titurel] – Hans Hotter
- Chorus – Wiener Sängerknaben, Chor Der Wiener Staatsoper
- Chorus Master [Wiener Staatsoper] – Norbert Balatsch
- Chorus Master [Wiener Sängerknaben] – Anton Neyder
- Composed By, Libretto By – Richard Wagner
- Conductor – Sir Georg Solti
- Engineer [Recording] – Gordon Parry, Kenneth Wilkinson
- Layout – Werner Koberstein
- Liner Notes [English] – William Mann
- Liner Notes [German To French Translation] – Jacques Fournier
- Liner Notes [German] – Carl Dahlhaus
- Liner Notes [Synopsis] – Peggie Cochrane
- Orchestra – Wiener Philharmoniker
- Photography By [Cover Photograph] – David Wedgbury
- Producer [Recording] – Christopher Raeburn
- Soprano Vocals [Klingsors Flower-Maid] – Alison Hargan, Anne Howells, Gillian Knight, Kiri Te Kanawa, Lucia Popp, Margarita Lilowa
- Soprano Vocals [Kundry] – Christa Ludwig
- Tenor Vocals [First Knight] – Robert Tear
- Tenor Vocals [Fourth Esquire] – Ewald Aichberger
- Tenor Vocals [Parsifal] – René Kollo
- Tenor Vocals [Third Esquire] – Heinz Zednik
