Met Opera Faust an absorbing re-imagining of Goethe's classic tale

Gounod's "Faust": a bargain with the devil takes nuclear twist

Reviewed at the Season Premiere by Dwight Casimere, March 21, 2013
Metropolitan Opera photographs by Cory Weaver

NEW YORK---Met Opera lovers have only two final opportunities to catch the revival of Tony Award-winnning director Des McAnuff's (Best Director-Musical, for Broadway's Big River-1985) production of Gounod's Faust.

McAnuff jettisons the action from the mid-19th century world of Faust's laboratory to the world of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the end of World War II, when the U.S. dropped the A bomb on Japan. Like Faust, Oppenheimer is said to have made a Faustian deal with the devil to ensure a U.S. victory.

The stark sets by Robert Brill, stage dominating video projections by video designer sean Nieuwenhuis, lighting by Peter Mumford, costumes by Paul Tazewell and over-the-top choreography by Kelly Devine, and the superb work of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus make for a thrilling performance.

Canadian bass-baritone John Relyea would have practically run away with the performance as Mephistopheles were it not for the superb dramatic singing of Piotr Beczala in the title role and the searingly sensuous acting and silvery voice of Marina Poplavskaya as Faust's subconscious love interest Marguerite. Her fiery portrayal dug beneath the skin of her character and rooted each of her scenes with Faust/Beczala in the frenzied psychological sea storm that is Faust's mental state.

The production is not only visually stunning, but is punctuated by a tableau of  sweeping orchestral backdrops, thanks to the brilliant conducting of Alain Altinoglu and the artistry of the Met Opera orchestra's  cadre of musicians and soloists. One of the most effective and chilling scenes shows the entire chorus, dressed in white lab coats, singing on the winding staircase of Faust's infinitely dark and foreboding lab.  By the time the opera careens into an eerie finale , we are left to wonder if the events that transpired over the past three hours and forty-five minutes were either the final desperate moments of a  delusional madman, or the mere last-gasp hallucinations of a pathetic man as he lay dying.

Faust's final performances at the Metropolitan Opera House take place Tuesday, April 2 and Friday, April 5. Visit www.metopera.org for tickets and showtimes.

Violin Virtuoso Isabelle Faust in The Bach Variations: A New York Philharmonic Festival

 Brings "Sleeping Beauty" Stradivarius violin to life in Bach Violin Concerto

Reviewed by Dwight Casimere, March 22, 2013, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

NEW YORK---American violin virtuoso and Grammy nominee Isabelle Faust brought her 1704 "Sleeping Beauty" Stradivarius to Avery Fisher hall for a spirited concert of Bach Variations as part of the New York Philharmonics Festival, exploring the vast musical genius of this Baroque master, with one of his most renowned proponents, Guest Conductor Bernard Labadie, the founder and music director of Canada's famed Les Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Quebec.

In the hour prior top the performance, acclaimed New York composer and 1997 Pulitzer Prize nominee Joelle Wallach gave an illuminating Pre-Concert Talk, that couched Bach and his music in rich historical context. According to Wallach, Bach's music would have gone unheard by modern-day audiences, were it not for the happenstance purchase of a box of old music by Abraham Mendelssohn and the youthful curiosity of his then 20 year old son Felix.

 Violinist Isabelle Faust with her "Sleeping Beauty" Stradivarius

 Guest Conductor Bernard Labadie

 Isabelle Faust in full flight

Pre-Concert lecturer Dr. Joelle Wallach


From the outset, Labadie confirmed his distinguished pedigree, which includes bestowal of the Canadian Government's highest honor, an appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada (2005) and a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Quebec (2006). Moments after the downstroke for Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, he had the scaled-down version of the New York Philharmonic sounding much like the Academy of Saint Martin-In-The-Field on a rare, bright spring day at Trafalgar Square.
He almost literally had the strings and vibrant trumpets dancing to the Gavotte and Menuet rhythms of the work's central movements. Labadie's precise baton markins gave emphasis to the work's inner voices, with meticulous entrances from Violas and woodwinds, bright, shining declamations from the trumpets, placed judiciously to the far stage left of the acoustically challenging hall. Sonorous cellos and rumbling bass lines, further accentuated and underpinned the precisely attuned musical mechanism.

Central to the illumination of Bach's intricate phrasings and contrapuntal tapestries were the superb solo playing of Sumire Kudo, Cello, Satoshi Okamoto, Bass and Paolo Bordignon on Harpsichord. Bach's music shimmered like a multi-faceted diamond under Labadies deft hand.

Isabelle Faust swept onstage in muti-pastel colored silk frock, that clung to her like gossamer wings. She flung herself into the full-speed-aheadd Allegro, which at times, seemed a bit rushed for the type of delicate phrasing that she was attempting. After a few minor flubs of intonation and a brief moment in which the orchestra's swell  almost seemed to drown her out, Faust quickly regained her tonal footing and lent an air of dreamy appassionato to the central Adagio movement.

In the spirited Allegro assai, her swooping dance-like movements appeared somewhat distracting and, once again, acoustical challenges arose, causing the listener to strain to hear the lilting solo phrases that Bach intended to rise above the swell of the orchestra, but alas, that Rubicon had already been reached.

Ms. Faust's intonation problems persisted after the interval in her performance of the Violin Concerto in A minor. Thankfully, her expressive reading of the Andante passages saved the day and bridged the pathway to a stirring Allegro assai crescendo.

The Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major  was quite a different matter. Mssr. Labadie set a stately, but relaxed tempo that allowed all of the orchestral tonal color and nuance of Bach's intensely personal writing to unfold. The solo violin of principal associate concert master Sheryl Staples in the "Air" seemed to lift the piece to the level of transcendence, her lyrical phrasing moving beyond the boundaries of her stringed instrument to achieve a level of tonal purity akin to vocalize. The subsequent dance movements; Gavotte-Gavotte II, the double-time Bouree and final Gigue  were all fun-and-games for Mssr. Labadie and company. Orchestra and conducter seemed  relieved to finally be unfettered. They broke free like wild Mustangs cavorting riderless across a vast plain, unencumbered by restraints.

You could almost see all of Maestro Labadie's Canadian Legion medals shining in the light as he led the spirited brigade.

Paul Taylor Dance Company; living legacy of a visionary

Dance icon still breaking boundaries at 83 years old

Reviewed by Dwight Casimere March 22, 2013 at Davi H. Koch Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York City

NEW YORK--Kernnedy Center Honoree (1992) and Emmy Award-winning (also 1992) choreographer Paul Taylor looked dapper and genial as he took a curtain call with his dozen dancing dynamos after a  searing performance that marked the final weekend of the company's nearly three week "season" at Lincoln Center.

To call Taylor a modern dance icon is an understatement of the highest order. He is the last living link to the creators of this uniquely American art form, having cut his teeth at the heels of Martha Graham, with whom he began his late blooming career in 1955, Merce Cunnigham, and George Balanchine, who created the solo "Episodes' or him with New York City Ballet. Besides his many dance accollades, Taylor was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary, Dancemaker (1999), which aired on the PBS American Masters Series. Dancemaker is available on DVD.

In a program that provided a sort of Cliff's Notes sketch of the genius's last thirty years of choreography that both distills the creative genius of his antecedents and presents a heady concoction of his current oeuvre.

Le Sacre Du Pintemps (The Rehearsal-1980) is a case study in iconic imagery. With the famous music of Igor Stravinsky hauntingly reduced to an arrangement for two pianos, it features the complete corps dressed in almost prison-stripe garb( set and costumes by John Rawlings),  and a solo male dancer perched atop an obelisk. The movements of the dancers are almost an etch-a-sketch flip card of stilted movements that recall the early choreography of Graham and Ballanchine, with stop motion pauses that resemble hyroglific poses. The symbols on the obelisk resemble hyroglifics as well.

The Uncommitted (2011), with music by his contemporary, the Estonian avant-garde composer Arvo Part, which is a pastiche of music that entwined the subsections including his   tintinnabuli-styled composition, Fratres, with its persistent chord sequences and repetitive percussion motif, with Mozart's Adagio and the polyphonic and contrapuntal early Baroque piece  Ricercar, and Summa, which represents the theological masterpiece of Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274), a compendium of the teachings of the Catholic Church, recognized as the single most influential work of Western philosophy and theology. All of this, set in motion by Taylor's fluid choreography, accompanied by set and costumes by Santo Loquasto and Loighting by Jennifer Tipton, was an absorbing piece that best exemplified Taylor's unique gift at posing heady philosophical questions while devising a thoroughly entertaining and engaging piece of dance-craft.

The finale, Promethean Fire (2002), in which the program referenced a quote from William Shakespeare, was the most satisfying work of the evening, and vintage Paul Taylor all the way, with its stylish, undulating dance movements set against the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski. The stark contrast o the Baroque music, particularly the familiar Tocata & Fugue in D minor, the Prelude in E-flat minor and the almost Ecclesiastical lilting phrases of Bach's Chorale Prelude, was nearly rapturous.

Visionary artist Gaetano Pesce at Fred Torres Collaborations

Artist gives first solo, New York exhibition in 25 years

NEW YORK--Visionary architect, designer and artist Gaetano Pesce was effusive as he described his masterpieces to a small group of reporters in a preview to his first solo New York exhibition in 25 years, held at Fred Torres Collaborations. The show ran March 21-25 and was one of the landmark events of the early spring art season. It had all of the earmarks of a theatrical opening night, with  the sound of hammer and nails as workmen were still putting the finishing touches on installations and sign painters removed the facing from the carefully stenciled marquee sign for the show.

Informally, Pesce spoke to the issues of love, empathy and political commitment'  which dominate the themes of his art. Pesce is known for breaking beyond the traditional boundaries of art, architecture and design to embrace all of these disciplines through a poetic imagination that fuses color, reality, new materials and figurative expression into singular works of ingenuity.

"This piece talks a lot about the corruption of politicians and bad government," Pesce said of his dramatic sculpture Italia in Croce(Italy Crucified 2010), which was the centerpiece of the third room of the gallery, which was dedicated to the theme of Agape, or unconditional, divine and enlightened love. "It's true that Italy is going through this kind of difficult moment," he said, motioning to the sculpture, which depicts a crucifix draped in a bloody, ragged shroud composed of urethane resin, wood and stones, "but it's also true that the politician, in the world;  if you look to Japan, or if you look to Russia, Brazil and also here (in the U.S.), we cannot say, like in the old time, that the politicians serve the country,  but most of the time, the country is supposed to serve the politician, and this is not acceptable. Because of  that, I believe, the country can suffer. There you have people without the work and without the pay and all the other things they need. So, in talking about my country, you see an extraordinary country that has a fantastic culture, with fantastic food, and fantastic languages, and see that it is in a condition of poverty, I did this to show the crucifixion of the country and the reason of that, is that everybody doesn't do what it will take to have it become what it was. Because, in the Renaissance it was an extraordinary country, teaching to others how government was supposed to be; etc.,etc. So this is the meaning of the piece."

Turning to the next striking piece in the room,  Heart Lamp (a pencil and oil painting on paper 1979), Pesce enthused, "this is a project related to design that is supposed to talk about the place where it is done. So, we start with a lamp in the symbol of lovers (the heart), and this arrow going through it finishes in a platform," he said, motioning to the downward flow of the image, "and this platform was done in marble and below it, is  the shape of a  plane. This is the position where the arrow arrives. If you look here, (at the plane at the bottom of the painting), you recognize the map of Venice.  So, this is a lamp that gives the possibility for people to buy the land and choose the place where the plane can land. If you are from Amsterdam, you land the plane in Amsterdam, if you are from Dusseldorf, the same. This is a project relating design to a place. That was the meaning of the of this lamp. "

Pesce's explanation of the two pieces further illustrates his continued use of irony and humor to attack the standardization of mass-produced objects and architecture, a quality that sets him apart from others in his realm. His projects have a point of view and make a strong statement that is both artistic and socio-political.

Gallery owner Fred Torres was quoted as saying "This exhibition showcases the narrative and heart of Pesce's work, His interests go beyond beautiful and functional objects. He's an artist who continually pushes the envelope by exploring themes of love, sadness, enlightenment and the pursuit of truth in everything he does."

In keeping with that, the theme of the main room of the gallery was dedicated to Philos, or fraternal love.  Pesce's rarely seen Habitat for Two drawings and Commune for Twelve drawings were featured there.

The most dramatic piece of the entire show was his latest, the World Trade Center Cabinet (2013), a functional resin piece with copper hinges fused to a lacquered wood base. It is a representation of Pesce's entry into the World Trade Center Memorial competition. The design consists of two tower structures connected by a heart. It is both a reminder of the majesty of the former twin towers and a remembrance of the tragedy that occurred there.

Coincidentally, Gaetano Pesce's one man show took place at the same time as the official observance of 2013 as the year of Italian culture in the United States.  Although unaware of the observance prior to the exhibit, Pesce commented, "That's good. This will be an important part of that

 The marquee for Gaetano Pesce's first solo show in New York in 25 years

 Dwight Casimere with artist and visionary Gaetano Pesce

 Italy in Croce 2010

 Gaetano Pesce with his Italia in Croce

 Habitat for Two People 1971-study of the psychological behavior of its inhabitants

 Heart Lamp 1979

 Habitat for Two People 1971

 Vase with Legs 2012

 Vase with Legs 2012

World Trade Center Cabinet 2013

Met Opera La Traviata a fiery revival

Placido Domingo, Diana Damrau sizzle in Met role debuts

 Diana Damrau in her role debut as the courtesan Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata

 Placido Domingo makes his debut as Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont

 Violetta celebrates free love as she presides over one of her many gala balls

Placido Domingo as Giorgio Germont cautions Diana Damrau as Violetta to stay away from his son

Reviewed by Dwight Casimere March 18, 2013
Metropolitan Opera photos by Ken Howard

NEW YORK--A wealthy woman of free and easy virtue attracts the attention of an impetuous young suitor, who is, coincidentally, the son of a prominent nobleman.  This, in a nutshell, is the centrifuge of character interplay that drives Guiseppe Verdi's La Traviata, in this revival of Willy Decker's 2010 Metropolitan Opera production. Originally adapted from the novel and play La Dame aux Carnelias, written by Alexandre Dumas fil, the son of the famed author of The Three Musketters. Originally set in the lavish salons of mid-19th Century Paris, the setting is fast-fowarded to a vaguely modern Beaux Arts setting in this starkly colorful production.

Featuring Diana Damrau in her role debut as Violetta and the esteemed Placido Domingo also in his  role debut anywhere as Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, the performance sparkles from beginning to end with exceptional singing, terrific dramatic interplay and superlative music, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin in his first Met performances of the Verdi tragedy.

Savatore Cordella pinch-hit as Alfredo Germont, Violetta's ardent suitor, replacing an ailing Saimir Pirgu. Cordella displayed a lovely, liquid voice and a smooth, dramatic flair, However, he seemed to be rather muted in the early going, but seemed to warm up later in the performance to unleash the full power of his rich, velvety voice.

Damrau as Violetta, on the other hand, was a raging inferno throughout, lighting the stage afire with her agile moves, particularly while balancing precariously on the edge of the back of a sofa, while quaffing a bottle of imaginary champagne and toasting the joys of illicit love. All the while an ominous giant clock and the spectre of a white haired, dark-suited stranger dominates the edge of the stark, pale grey set, foreshadowing Violetta's doom.

Verdi's opera is a cautionary tale of the high price society, and morality, exacts on those who, like Icarus, attempt to fly too close to the flame of torrid free love and the life of excess and frivolity. Reckless abandon has its own intrinsic price. A higher moral force is always waiting in the wings to exact its toll. However, the ride can be glorious and filled with some incredibly great music and fantastic singing! Go see La Traviata, even if you've already seen it a hundred times. Domingo and Damrau create fireworks on the Met stage. Their chemistry and the sparks it creates are irresistable. For tickets and information, visit metopera.org.

Met Opera Francesca da Rimini revives early masterpiece

First performance of Zandonai's materpiece in 27 years

Review by Dwight Casimere March 12
seen in Met Live HD theatres March 16

Metropolitan Opera photos by Ken Howard

NEW YORK--With its imposing and dramatic sets, spectacular singing and striking orchestration and harmonics, one wonders why it has taken nearly three decades for the Metropolitan Opera to mount a revival of Riccardo Zandonai's landmark Francesca da Rimini. Premiered at the Met in 1916 and last mounted in 1986, the current production features international superstar Eva-Maria Westbroek in a searing performance in the title role and veteran Met tenor Marcello Giordani and his sylvan voice in his 27th role in his extensive Met repertory. Met Live HD audiences experienced this towering production in movie theatres around the world. This reporter had the distinct pleasure of viewing the production live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in advance of the transmission. It was singular delight. An Encore Presentation is scheduled for  Wednesday, April 3 at 6:30pm. Check your local listings for theatre locations.

The Production by Piero Faggioni, captures the emotional entanglement of the opera's inherent dramatic tension. With towering sets designed by Franca Squarciapino and lighting designed by Gil Wechsler, and Stage Direction by Cavid Kneuss, the opera vividly portrays the triangular romantic dilemma between the central characters.

Eva-Marie Westbroek is the beautiful noblewomen Francesca who is unhappily married to Gianciotto, sung by Met favorite Mark Delavan in a powerfully lurid performancr. Francesca is smitten by Paolo, sung with soaring romanticism by Marcello Giordani. It is love at first sight, but love that is doomed from the outset.

Marco Armiliato, conducting his first Met performances of the opera, does a masterful job of navigating Zandonai's intricate orchestrations, which meld the colorful harmonic influences of Claude Debussy with the dynamic orchestral flourishes of Richard Strauss and the soaring melodies of Italian verismo.

There are notable performances throughout, particularly Robert Brubaker as Malatestino. He has sung 12 roles at the Met, and this ranks as his most challenging and triumphant.

The Choreography by Donald Mahler is an integral part of the overall success of this superlative production.

 Marcello Giordani is Paolo and Eva-Marie Westbroek is Francesca in Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini

 Eva-Marie Westboek as Francesca

 Mark Delavan as the conniving Gianciotto

Ezio Frigerio's stunning set in Piero Faggioni's brilliant production

The Met: Live in HD is now seen in more than 1,900 theatres in 64 countries around the world. For tickets and program information, visit the Met's website at metopera.org or fathomevents.com.

Lincoln Center Presents: Symphonic Masters, the London Philharmonic

Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic giveBeethoven, Mahler a fresh voice

Reviewed by Dwight Casimere March 11, 2013

NEW YORK---Lincoln Center Presents and its Symphonic Masters series brought one of the most recognized and venerated orchestras in the world, the London Philharmonic, and its cosmic principal conductor, Vladimir Jurowski. Through incisive intepretation and probative mining beneath the dense layers of orchestration in the compositions of Beethoven and Mahler, Jurowski and the London Philharmonic were able to give fresh voices to two compositions that have become mainstays of the symphonic stage.

Helene Grimaud's highly emotional and articulate playing of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 transcended the dazzling pyrotechnics of of the plethora of notes on the page, to lift into the realm of imagination, capturing the tangled web of emotions that engulfed Beethoven during one of the most difficult times in his life, the discovery that terminal deafness would engulf his creative genius. In many ways, the pathos evident in the Andante con moto, is a reflection of that inner torment, and Grimaud captured its poignancy.

The London Philharmonic is well known. Besides its regular television and radio broadcasts, the orchestra has recorded soundtracks for numerous blockbuster films, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Jurowski's mastery of Mahler's expansive melodies and complex orchestrations in the monumental Symphony No. 5, made it a joy to listen to. The nimble playing of woodwinds, the congusto rompings of the bass section and the penetrating declamations of the brass combined with thundering climaxes from the percussion section, made this a thrilling explication. The nearly hour and fifteen minute length of the composition seemed to fly by as the listener was drawn into the conductor's absorbing interpretation and command of tonal color. This was a Mahler that appealed to both the intellect and the heart. 

MET LIVE HD PARSIFAL A JOURNEY OF REDEMPTION

MET LIVE HD PARSIFAL A JOURNEY OF REDEMPTION

 Jonas Kaufmann as Parsifal

 Rene Pape as Gurnemanz

 Katarona Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry

 Evgeny Nikitin as a riveting, enigmatic Klingsor

 A scene from Act I
Act II below

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Reviewed by Dwight Casimere

Metropolitan Opera photos by Ken Howard

Richard Wagner’s Parsifal, as depicted in the new Metropolitan Opera production, directed by acclaimed Academy Award winning (1998 The Red Violin, Academy Award for Best Original Score) director Francois Girard, is a dark and gloomy affair. For a moment, as I entered the darkened movie theatre in the Met Live in HD presentation, I thought I might have accidentally stumbled into the movie “The Last Exorcism: Part II”, which was playing in an adjoining theatre, but Rene Pape’s familiar stentorian bass voice assured me that I was in the right place.

Michael Levine’s chillingly stark set, depicting an almost treeless forest with a moon crater-like lake, and two barren berms ripped right out off the stage of Athol Fugard’s Boesman and Lena, turned out to be the perfect setting. It set the theme of personal redemption and salvation in bas-relief against the apocalyptic backdrop and served to heighten the emotional impact of Wagner’s last masterpiece.

“It’s a piece that stands on its own,” director Francoise Girard told Met Backstage Interviewer and star bass Eric Owen. “It’s in its own league. For five years, I spent working on it, I cam to realize that it is an experience that is far beyond the normal scheme of productions. It’s a very simple story of Spiritual Redemption and the question for all us involved was ‘how do we make this relevant and we actually decided to make it contemporary, so the torments and temptations are not about monks of the past, but they are relevant today. It’s our suffering. It’s our temptation; it’s our life that’s onstage.

“Wagner, in the last year’s of his life, tried to reconcile all of his influences both spiritually and musically in Parsifal. Artistically, it was such a testament to the body of his work. The piece is very long. It’s very dense. It makes references to not only Christianity, but to Buddhism, which we also tried to reference in out production. There’s so much in it that it took a Herculean effort to bring it to the stage. There are well over 200 artists working here today in order to bring Wagner’s vision into fruition. But we have a lot of big heavy shoulders to carry the weight of this responsibility.”

Eric Owens proved to be a masterful Backstage Host and Interviewer. His ease in addressing the camera, with his mellifluous basso profundo voice, and his command of the subject matter informed his questions and served to set his interview subjects at ease. All except for his boss, Met General Richard Gelb, who seemed to have just a bit of stage jitters as he answered Owens’s probing questions.  Listening to the difficult names of the mostly Russian and Swedish cast members literally roll off of his tongue was a special delight.

From the Overture to Act I, through to the final charismatic scene, more than five and a half hours later, Parsifal is a riveting experience.  Jonas Kaufmann sets just the right pitch as his central character balances on knifepoint between outright cruel criminal behavior and the possibility of repentance and personal salvation. His plight is not unlike that of today’s youth, ensnared in a web of urban violence, and the nation’s current debate over gun violence. Somehow, Wagner’s message is ricocheted from the 13^th century sanctuary of the Knights of the Holy Grail to modern times by Thibault Vancraenenbroeck’s pitch-perfect costume design, David Finn’s dramatic lighting, which almost becomes another cast member, Peter Flaherty’s video design and Levine’s sparse, but symbol-laden sets.

Carolyn Choa’s choreography is a superb complement to the score throughout and serves to meld the singing of the chorus, as always masterfully prepared and conducted by Chorus Master Donald Palumbo, and the action onstage. 

In the lair of Klingsor, in Act II, dancers and chorus become fused in a single effort that both propels the action and roots the story in its contrasting themes.

The singing is divine, as is the conducting by Maestro Daniele Gatti who, deservedly, received a thunderous ovation as he made his way to the podium for the final act.  Jonas Kaufmann is one of the great dramatic tenors of the opera stage, although I’d recommend that he hit the gym a time or two before doing the “buff” thing. But, perhaps that too is in character, given Parsifal’s exhaustive, Christ-like journey toward self-awareness.

“Par-si-fal”,” Katatrina Dalayman intones in the role of the ageless medium Kundry, “both pious and foolish.” This sets forth the emotional dichotomy of the character and his dilemma. The sights of Parsifal struggling over the mound in sackcloth, while holding high the holy spear is the emotional highpoint of the opera.

Wagner intended Parsifal as a type of Benediction, designed to consecrate the stage of his beloved creation, Bayreuth. Here, his mission is realized with not just reverence, but a distinctly modern verve that makes Parsifal relevant to the trials and tribulations of today. Parsifal will experience an Encore performance Wednesday March 20^th at 6:30pm local time. Check local listings for theatre locations or visit www.metopera.org or fathomevents.com. It is not to be missed.