Stellar cast and musicians includes Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Elina Garanca and Wolfgang Koch, as well as Wagner-specialist Philippe Jordan conducting the Vienna State Opera orchestra and chorus. This was recorded live in April 2021 during the run of the Vienna State Opera's hit new production of Wagner's late - and arguably greatest - opera Parsifal. Deluxe, four CD-set with a 300 page booklet includes texts & Libretto in 3 different languages (DE, EN, FR).
REVIEWS:
Kaufmann’s performance in the title role will doubtless be regarded as its main selling point...but it’s Elīna Garanča as Kundry, in her first Wagnerian role, whose performance is perhaps the most extraordinary...the orchestral playing is as intense as anyone could want, and the closing pages are suitably transcendent.
-- The Guardian (U.K.)
Happily, most of the singing is marvelous...Kaufmann’s finest stretches as Parsifal comes in later acts, when his passions fly, top notes ping, and dark timbres shake the rafters, alongside strong competition from Garanča’s bloodcurdling screams…. Jordan is a masterful Wagnerian who knows instinctively when to move forward or how long to pause, sometimes more than Wagner himself.
