Opern

http://mostlyopera.com, 20. März 2008
http://mostlyopera.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-parsifal-at-paris-bastille-opera.html,
20.März 2008. besuchte Vorstellung 18.3.

Conductor Hartmut Haenchen is really fast with the score. With timings of 1:40, 1:05 and 1:05, the over-all performance being 3:50. Initially, he didn´t seem fast, since he took the prelude at a conventional pace, but then he slowly sped up.. In comparison I´d say Barenboim normally is about 20 minutes slower in the first Act alone. Haenchen was hugely applauded by the audience and it was by no means a badly conducted performance. He clearly understands the score, and presents a well-thought reading of it, but I lacked some depth and tension. And I prefer a much slower paced conducting, though slow tempi by no means automatically guarantees a successfully conducted Parsifal. Interestingly, some of the trombones in Act 1 was placed off-stage with excellent effect.