Parsifal in the Gustaf Adolf Church of Eurajoki, the 21st of October, 2020

The highlight of my last summer holiday week (yes, in October!) was without doubt my trip to Eurajoki to hear Richard Wagner’s opera “Parsifal”. The opera alone would have been an excellent reason to make the trip, but when the group of soloists was more than promising and the accompaniment was unusual – by an organ, the excitement just grew and grew when the due day approached. The opera was performed as a concert version in the Gustaf Adolf Church, that was from the year 1803. The organ on the other hand is brand new, it was erected in 2020.

The story of ”Parsifal” is, as so often in Wagner’s operas, a bit weird and a bit difficult to squeeze into a few sentences without losing half the people and all the references to religion. But if we concentrate on the story of some of the main characters and leave also some of the fairytale parts out of it, here is the heavily abbreviated tale. King Amfortas has been wounded and the wound will not heal. The cursed woman Kundry brings medicine that relieves some of the pain but does not heal it. Parsifal arrives all agog and ends up in the realm of Klingsor – the evil type in the story, where Kundry tries to seduce him without success. However, Parsifal manages to destroy Klingsor’s realm. Years later, he returns to Amfortas and heals him. Kundry’s curse is lifted and she dies.  

I had never before heard an opera by Wagner played by an organ, so I was really looking forward to it and not in vain. The organ accompaniment by Ilpo Laspas was amazing. It was unbelievable, how he had the strength to play with just intensity the whole opera, which is not short (though this version was shortened a bit). Wagner’s music naturally sounded different played by an organ compared to a full orchestra, but organ and Wagner fitted well together.  

And the group of soloists were also in good form. I was, however, a bit disappointed that the singers were singing from the organ loft, which meant that they were behind of the audience, though it is, of course, better for the singers to be closer to the accompaniment. Unfortunately, this meant that to see the singers you had to curve your body very uncomfortably, but what could you do. This time I had three favourite soloists. Mika Kares was an impressive Gurnemanz. His voice alone would have been magnificent, but when I turned to look at him, the blast of energy that was reflecting from him was so incredible, that it almost stopped my breathing. Fantastic performance! Tuija Knihtilä was also a stunning Kundry. I have heard her perform well in this role earlier, but she sounded even better this time. Tuomas Katajala made his debut in the role of Parsifal and I had looked forward to that. He did not disappoint: his lower register sounded strong and he was also able to sing the higher register as brightly as a true Wagner tenor has to. I am wondering what would be the music that he could not sing?