Opera on 3 - Wagner's Parsifal

Wagner's Parsifal Martin Handley presents a recording of the recent production of Wagner's final opera from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It marks the return to the theatre's podium of former music director Bernard Haitink, with a cast of leading Wagner interpreters from home and abroad. Parsifal, the 'pure fool made wise by suffering', encounters the knights of the holy grail led by the wounded ruler Amfortas and veteran knight Gurnemanz. He meets the mysterious wild woman Kundry and the evil magician Klingsor. He grows in maturity and is eventually revealed as the redeemer whose task is to take on the role of the new lord of the grail. Gurnemanz ...... John Tomlinson (bass) First Knight ...... Nikola Matisic (tenor) Second Knight ...... Krzysztof Szumanski (bass) First Esquire ...... Harriet Williams (mezzo-soprano) Second Esquire ...... Rebecca de Pont Davies (soprano) Third Esquire ...... Ji-Min Park (tenor) Fourth Esquire ...... Haoyin Xue (tenor) Kundry ...... Petra Lang (mezzo-soprano) Amfortas ...... Falk Struckmann (bass) Parsifal ...... Christopher Ventris (tenor) Titurel ...... Gwynne Howell (bass) Voice from above ...... Pumeza Matshikiza (soprano) Klingsor ...... Willard White (bass) Flowermaidens...... Elizabeth Cragg, Anita Watson, Kichani Jayasinghe, Malin Christensson, Ana James, Pumeza Matshikiza (sopranos) Children's Chorus from Trinity School, Croydon Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Bernard Haitink (conductor).