WAGNER Parsifal [download]

Total duration 258m35s

Catalogue number MAR0508
UPC 822231850823

James Mallinson producer
John Newton & Dirk Sobotka recording engineers
Jonathan Stokes & Neil Hutchinson for
Classic Sound Ltd editing, mixing & mastering

Disc of the Month
Performance ***** Recording *****
'What really distinguishes this, though, is Gergiev. His reading is vivid and luminous, generally expansive but with fluidly shifting tempos, unashamedly guilty of theatrical excitement. Gergiev, with the vigorous Mariinsky chorus and orchestra, achieves a glowing translucency in both choral and orchestral textures.'
BBC Music Magazine

CDs of the Year Los Angeles Times

CDs of the Year New York Times

Editor's Choice 'A truly moving experience, one of the finest Wagner recordings of recent years.' Gramophone

La Clef Res Musica

ffff 'La Kundry passionnée de Violeta Urmana, le Gurnemanz très tendre de René Pape nuancent subtilement cette palette crue... le son devient couleur, la musique peinture.' Télérama

CD of the Week 'Startling beautiful, rapturously sung and radiantly recorded.' BBC Radio 3 CD Review

'A magnificent recording.' Der Neue Merker

'Gergiev presumably wanted to record a Parsifal that measured up to the international competition... and he's certainly succeeded.' Daily Telegraph

'This recording, taken from live performances in June, 2009 in St. Petersburg, is marvelously theatrical, with the situations dictating tempo and flow. The spiritual moments glow in a way that is rarely achieved, and the Mariinsky Orchestra plays magnificently from start to finish. The voice [Gary Lehman] 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. Violeta Urmana's Kundry, like all of her work, is vocally remarkable: there's not a weak spot in her voice, even in this difficult-to-cast part.' ClassicsToday.com

'The cast is outstanding, with impressive performances from the brilliant René Pape (Gurnemanz) and Evgeny Nikitin (Amfortas)... This is a landmark for Gergiev and, at mid-price – or even if it were full-price – worth every penny.'
The Observer

'Above all, this is Gergiev's Parsifal and it is the superlatively good playing of the Mariinsky Orchestra that, with Pape's gloriously sung Gurnemanz, makes this new set essential listening for Wagnerians.'
International Record Review

'Marvelously theatrical... The spiritual moments glow in a way that is rarely achieved, and the Mariinsky Orchestra plays magnificently from start to finish... Besides Gergiev's leadership and the orchestra's playing, the other crucial thing about this set is René Pape's Gurnemanz. His attention never flags, and he looms over the proceedings as rightly he should; wisdom, piety, and justice never sounded this good. Violeta Urmana's Kundry, like all of her work, is vocally remarkable: there's not a weak spot in her voice, even in this difficult-to-cast part.' ClassicsToday.com