Pretzels and champagne (***1/2)
Brigitte Fassbaender directs Parsifal in Frankfurt [live]
In the minds of Parsifal bashers, Parsifal is so misogynistic that it is always a good idea to leave this enigmatic work to the intuition of a female director. “Parsifal is and remains a mystery,” Brigitte Fassbaender says in the program booklet. That is not what you want to hear from a Parsifal director. It sounds like an excuse for her own failure. Because this production, with its slightly ironic touches, is a failure in every sense of the word. It is kept afloat by the predictable, fantastic debut of Andreas Bauer Kanabas as Gurnemanz and by the lively musical direction of Thomas Guggeis.
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