Bernhard Lang: ParZeFool

Bernhard Lang’s reimagination of Wagner’s Parsifal is the continuation of his Monadologie series, which includes pieces by other musical bigwigs such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. ParZeFool’s dimensions are based on the Boulez recording of the original, yet something is definitely off with Lang’s Parsifal. As time progresses, stark atonal passages as well as jazz- and hip-hop influences begin to rub up against the original score. The original libretto is stripped of all Christian and pseudo-religious references, cut into smaller bits and pieces, and finally, looped into infinity and pushing far beyond Wagner’s notion of the “Leitmotiv”. This recording is a must for all opera lovers – and haters!