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| Lars Cleveman and John Tomlinson in Wagner's Parsifal (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou) |
Of all the transformations undergone by the Royal Albert
Hall, the problematic home of the BBC Proms, that achieved for Sunday night’s epic
performance of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal must rank among the most astounding.
The first act of Parsifal – all two hours of it – opens up and up, revealing
more and more splendour until the end, when the aged Gurnemanz rebukes the
naive Parsifal for failing to understand all that he has seen. A pivotal moment
in Act One is the move from the sacred forest of the opera’s opening to the
hallowed heights of the castle of Monsalvat, home of the Holy Grail. Gurnemanz
sings “here, time becomes space” (a fitting summation of the music’s power –
the very first notes of Parsifal set us adrift in time and space by refusing to
offer any meter), and Wagner’s “transformation music” describes the ascent to
the holy castle and its towering, imposing interior. Once there, two choirs and
a brass band, placed far above in the gallery, made for the most stunning
rendering of the grail castle imaginable.
Mark Elder’s very slow tempo brought the performance to
six hours, but the glowing playing he got from the Hallé as worth the price of
admission alone. The long stand (after the Ring, though, it flew by) was
rewarded less evenly by the evening’s singing, which ranged from the imposing
(John Tomlinson living the role of Gurnemanz) to the anonymous (Lars Cleveman’s
unimpressive Parsifal). The remarkable spacial effects will stay with me for a
long time, but on balance I’m more in sympathy with Mark Valencia’s qualified praise than David Nice’s total admiration.
