Description:

In this towering performance of Parsifal, Martha Mödl brings a searing emotional range and raw dramatic force to the role of Kundry. At the height of her powers, she infuses each phrase with turbulent intensity and inner conflict, her voice alternately slashing and pleading as the narrative demands. Paired with Wolfgang Windgassen, whose Parsifal radiates youthful nobility and growing spiritual awareness, the two create an electrifying dynamic that anchors the performance.

Ludwig Weber is a stately and dignified Gurnemanz, his resonant bass lending a timeless authority to the part. His long monologues are delivered with such natural inflection and warmth that they seem to suspend time. As Amfortas, Ferdinand Frantz offers a deeply affecting portrayal marked by both suffering and vocal assurance—his outcries are anguished yet never lose technical control, giving the character both tragic gravity and musical finesse.

Under the baton of Eugen Jochum, the score unfolds with elegiac beauty. His pacing is unhurried but never static, allowing the mystical contours of the music to breathe. Jochum draws glowing colors from the orchestra, illuminating Wagner’s spiritual landscape with both clarity and reverence. The result is a Parsifal that transcends the theatrical and touches the metaphysical, driven by a cast in peak form and a conductor who grasps the work’s inner radiance.

In Mono

OD 10082-4