PARSIFAL René Pape, Gary Lehman, Yuri Alexeev, Violeta Urmana, Nikolai Putilin, Olga Trífonova, Lia Shevtsova, Alexei Tanovitski, Evgeny Nikitin, Elena Ushakova, Irina Mataeva, Olga Legkova, Liudmila Dudinova, Alexander Timchenko, Alla Martynenko, Anna Kiknadze, Andrei Popov, Zhanna Dombrovskaya, Yuri Vorobiev Mariinsky (Kirov) Orchestra, Mariinsky Chorus, Mariinsky Children's ChorusValéry Gergiev "(...) it must be said at once that, on grounds of the general excellence of its singers and the cumulative authority of the interpretation, this is a performance to be reckoned with. It boasts not only the peerless René Pape, a Gurnemanz of tireless eloquence and refinement, but Gary Lehman, the formidably gifted American Heldentenor, new to recording, in the title-role." "Besides Gergiev’s leadership and the orchestra’s playing, the other crucial thing about this set is René Pape’s Gurnemanz. Hans Hotter fans will think he sounds too young; I disagree. The voice has weight and authority and enough flexibility to caress some phrases and create quite a grand effect with others. His attention never flags, and he looms over the proceedings as rightly he should; wisdom, piety, and justice never sounded this good. When he comes across Kundry again in Act 3 it’s quite an event. Sound quality: 10/10. Artistic quality 8/10." "What really distinguishes this...is Gergiev. His reading is vivid and luminous, generally expansive but with fluidly shifting tempos, unashamedly guilty of theatrical excitement. Yet he evokes a rapt quality which does convey an authentic spirituality - passionate 'Russian soul', perhaps, rather than sombre Germanic brooding, but if so, so much the better."
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