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Bold and Daring
A new production of Wagner's 'Parsifal',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
When Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie decided to produce a new Parsifal for the Wagner bicentenary, its management had a bold and daring idea. Because, in 1882, Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel ('A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage') -- as Wagner called the opera -- was seen as the utmost of musical avant garde, it was decided to entrust the staging of the opera to Romeo Castellucci who had made a reputation for himself as top experimental theatre director in Italy, France and many other countries. The Brussels opera house took a calculated risk because Castellucci also had the reputation, rightly or wrongly, of being a fiercely anti-clerical atheist. Thus, prima facie, he was not necessarily suited to fully appreciate the religious and philosophical implications, and intricacies, of Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel...
Copyright © 15 January 2014
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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