Hans Jürgen Syberberg's 1981 Parsifal will be streamed free for 24 hours on Saturday 11 August on Filmgalerie451.de. (Thanks to Wagneropera.net for the alert).
Essential viewing for anyone interested in Wagner performance practice, it's not a point-and-shoot record of a theatrical performance. Instead Syberberg made a film with actors and fitted it (deliberately loosely) to a pre-recorded soundtrack.
Musically speaking, it's not particularly strong, but cinematically it's arguably the greatest opera film ever made - certainly the most ambitious. Syberberg's visual style and his exploration of the opera's historical and biographical context have proved profoundly influential on later generations of opera directors. Perhaps the most notable of these is Stefan Herheim, whose Bayreuth Parsifal will be shown live in cinemas (German-speaking countries only) on the same day. If you can see both (lucky you), then do.
The other good news is that the DVD, currently only available at astronomical prices will be released again on 28 September.
Syberberg's own website carries streaming versions of his seminal Hitler, a Film From Germany and other work - also well worth checking out.
The film doesn't just feature actors. Robert Lloyd sings and acts Gurnemanz and the conductor, Armin Jordan, plays Amfortas in the film.
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Intermezzo replies - Most of the actors in the film are not full-time professionals (including the two who play Parsifal). They are, nevertheless, employed as actors. Lloyd and Aage Haugland (who acted and sang Klingsor) do not perform in an 'opera' style and the fact that they are miming to a soundtrack is (intentionally) obvious. It is in a sense coincidental that their own voices are heard.
Posted by: Jon | 08 August 2012 at 12:23 PM
Wow, it will be a Parsifal weekend. This year's Bayreuth production will be shown on Arte on Saturday too, and hence available online for a week (everywhere?).
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Intermezzo replies - Possibly only in Arte's broadcast region, if recent experience is anything to go by.
Posted by: Edwardac | 08 August 2012 at 04:47 PM
you can get the DVD direct from www.syberberg.de it's 40 euros. I have been hunting for this for a while and I saw it in some of the shops in Bayreuth.
No connection, just for info
Posted by: Liam | 08 August 2012 at 06:14 PM
Syberberg's acting Kundry is the stunning German actress Edith Cleever - Germany's Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson rolled into one.
Posted by: Nikolaus Vogel | 09 August 2012 at 12:27 AM
Did we really need the image of Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson rolling into one?
Posted by: Papageno | 11 August 2012 at 05:22 PM