Opera Scotland

Parsifal 2000Scottish Opera

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Parsifal was being given its first performances in Scotland since the 1976 Edinburgh Festival, and this was Scottish Opera’s first attempt at the piece. Richard Armstrong secured glorious playing from the orchestra and paced the evening beautifully. The singers were also up to the expected standard, especially Manfred Hemm as a distinctly youthful Gurnemanz and Matthew Best as Amfortas, the year before he took Wotan into his repertoire. Anne-Marie Owens was perhaps the surprise as Kundry, since she had not been seen in Wagner before and performed the role thoroughly convincingly. The staging was novel – hospital ward for the knights, and night club for the flower maidens – very effective.