See Ya Later, Alligator! Torino's Parsifal

Christine Goerke as Kundry (photo Teatro Regio di Torino)

Teatro Regio di Torino opened a new production of Wagner's Parsifal by Italian director Federico Tiezzi on January 26 and Tiezzi slapped a big gator head on Christine Goerke's Kundry. Yeah, that looks about right.

Parsifal is Christopher Ventris, Kundry is Christine Goerke, and Bertrand de Billy (making his house debut) conducts the Teatro Regio's orchestra through February 6.

Mark S. Doss as Klingsor and Christine Goerke as Kundry (photo Teatro Regio di Torino)

Comments

[Giuseppe]

It's no longer about singing, is it? Nihilist deconstruction is its own god, as was foretold.

[Giuseppe]

Nice head, though. I could use that with some singers I am coaching at present.

[Brent]

Is the name of this theater where the term "Regi opera" comes from?

[Massimo]

Brent, "regio" (adjective) means "royal" in Italian. So teatro regio is royal theater (Torino was the capital of the Kingdom of Piedmont, which eventually brought along the unification of Italy, and was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy itself for a short while).

[Ken]

It's the New Zoo Review, coming right at you!

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

I don't get it--at all. Poor Ms. Goerke! Why has she allowed this disrespect to her teachers?

[alexander]

Wagner might be pleased with that nice croco-head;) LA opera forgot this when they were preparing their Rings ;)
....just kidding...

[Drel]

I wouldn't go see this if I got free tickets - it is ridiculous and borderline degrading. What would Wagner say?

[Jeffrey Sarver]

Some day the adults will take over again. Until then let the idiots who run these opera houses bankrupt themselves by enriching ego-centric mediocrities to mount their shows. What really amazes me is that even the most die-hard Wagnerians would bother to waste 6 hours of their lives being bored stiff.

[Ida Lopes]

It's sad to watch many singers submit themselves to stage director's raving madness.

[Oroveso]

Utter c^@p and classic Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome. For decades now conductors and singers (even the most prominent & powerful) have meekly surrendered their powers of abrogation (“Either the croc-head goes, or I do!”) Sadly, the “directors” have totally won the war and it’s a complete massacre worthy of the Sioux and Custer at Little Big Horn. Pity the unfortunate Kundry that has to sing through that apparatus, let alone see the conductor! And pity the first-time audience member at PARSIFAL who searches in vain through the libretto or surtitles for mention of crocodiles in Klingsor’s Magic Garden. They should have at least done this in AIDA where they could pass it off as Sobek, the crocodile-headed God of ancient Egypt.

[Les Mitchell]

In 1959, there was this B movie called "The Alligator People" and at the end of the film, the poor guy ended up looking exactly like this.
Also "Dinocrock", a very recent film occasionally aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. I cannot believe any serious artist would allow herself to be presented to the public in such a way. Can you imagine Flagstad, Rysanek, or Meier consenting to this?

[alexander]

to Oroveso ;) - I think they had much more nicer croco-head masks in ancient Egypt than this ugly plastic trash...don't forget that Egypt originated from the great Atlantis culture ( withered though)...
This one is just silly-looking...any way there is no need for a real Art to use plastic bags on singer's heads...The force of voice/music/noble suggestion of real acting can do wonders among audience...it's a law...probably somebody is just not sure in one's own possibilities...

[Virginia F. Geheb]

Don't blame the singers in this economy. Work is work. Look how beautiful she looks in the rest of the production! AND she can sing too.

[Oroveso]

@Les Mitchell: No because Artur Bodanzky, Karl Bohm, Gatti-Casazza or Bing would have stopped this nonsense long before it ever got to the ladies. But you’re 100% correct. If it somehow reached the ladies they would have walked out in protest or just kicked the director and the croc head into the orchestra pit. P.S. Love me some Sci-Fi Channel. Be on the lookout for the upcoming epic “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid”.

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

@Ms. Geheb--Ms. Goerke is a very established and respected singer, not a young novice who has to take whatever work one can get to begin to make a career, and, thus, prostitute one's art to stay alive. Ms. Goerke does not need exposure in Torino, though this may be her first Kundry. What does the alligator head convey about Kundry that is not already described in the libretto and in the music? It reminds me of the production of Szymanowski's beautiful "King Roger" in which characters wore Mickey Mouse heads! And, then, the recent Bayreuth "Lohengrin" in which characters dressed as rats. Had the directors and design team just come from a vacation in Disneyworld? LOL.

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

@Oroveso--You must be referring to the new production of the "upcoming epic" of "Russlan and Ludmilla." LOL.

[Auntie Sabauda]

Too bad all the focus has been on the alligator head and not the fine singing of Ms. Goerke and her remarkable colleagues. The production is not so much shockingly bad as generally meaningless.... very disappointing from one of the finest theatres in Italy. Sadly, inside information tells us this was all they could afford. I'm glad they spent their euros on wonderful singers; disappointed about the rest, though. Happily, there will be many more Kundry's for Christine Goerke....

[Auntie Sabauda]

Those of us who work in this business know how very little choice a singer, ANY singer, experiened or otherwise, has in the matter of production....

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

Better a concert performance if you can't afford a real production--yes, the backdrop looked rather cheesey! (Barbara Frittoli refused to bathe nude on stage for a production of "Luisa Miller" in Berlin, I believe.)

[Tuxeedo]

"What does the alligator head convey about Kundry that is not already described in the libretto and in the music?"

Yes, that's exactly the point.
All this "Regie-Theater"-stuff does nothing to enlighten or to help to understand an opera.

It seems these stage directors think the audience is asinine and dumb.
In Munich there was a Rigoletto where all members of the duke's court were disguised as apes.

Statement of the director: in order to show the barbarian characters of these courtiers.

Well, if one isn't able to show that in a more subtle way one should go and look for another job.

And the audience surely doesn't need ape costumes to understand what's going on.

And I don't understand why singers don't say NO to this nonsense.

[Rufus]

Suppose this is a good training for perfect singing - will try this as well ;)

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

@Tuxeedo--Yes, an insult to the audience. I think maybe we give musical and artistic directors, producers, etc.--as well as opera house managers--too much credit for intelligence and academic background. We might be very shocked at what kind of grades they got in school! LOL. Maybe Munich had to recycle costumes from Henze's "Junge Lord"? I also fail to see how an alligator head fits the character description of Kundry who supposedly runs maniacally from land to land at the service of the Graal knights. Gators don't have much speed at all on land! Maybe the producer didn't know that.

[Les Mitchell]

Auntie Sabauda:
It depends on the singer. If it's an unknown singer, they need the work and will shut up. If their name is Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Florez, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Angela Gheorghiu, or someone of THAT status, they can very easily threaten to walk! Those superstars have enough clout, money making power, and leverage to change anything they wish. If you're a mega-star, you're holding all the winning cards,

[flipstinger]

as if singing is not already hard enough, but to also wear that thing? i hope she asked for more cash on this production!!!

[TuridduTenor]

Personally, the croc head doesn't bother me. Why? Because a single photo ain't within context. While fun to diss a show based on a single (ridiculous looking) photo, it is really just that…fun internet fodder. I know CG and know her to be an artist with a mind of her own. I can't imagine her "wimping" out and not feeling compelled to raise an objection if she felt she had to "guard her teacher's honor." Nah, give her and Mark and Christopher some credit. And the director. Sometimes crazy ideas work, sometimes they don't.

Base a production's merits or a director's efficacy by *seeing* it. Or at least bloggers first hand accounts and reviews. The question is: Did it say anything? Did it work? Was Wagner's music shed in a new and compelling light?

Yeah, I have a hard time imagining it did, but ya never know…

[Allicat]

You know, she only wore the head for the very opening moments of the act, and there was no singing done with it on. By the end of the evening, it was not even something that stood out as an important or memorable part of the production. It is SO sad that there is an entire line of comments about 2 minutes of a croc head, when the worthy topic of discussion is Goerke's incredible performance and powerful singing!