Gwyneth Jones As A Mesmerizing Kundry, from Wagner's 'Parsifal' (Bayreuth, 06 August 1969)

PARSIFAL
(Excerpts from Act 2)
Opera by
Richard Wagner
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INFO
Gurnemanz - Franz Crass
Kundry - Gwyneth Jones
Amfortas - Thomas Stewart
Parsifal - James King
Titurel - Karl Ridderbusch
Klingsor - Gerd Nienstedt
Bayreuth Festival
Chorus - Wilhem Pitz
Orchestra - Horst Stein
Production
Wieland Wagner
06 August 1969
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TIME STAMP
00:00 - Announcement
00:45 - Entrance of Kundry
Act 2, Scene 1, Klingsor's magic castle. Klingsor conjures up Kundry, waking her from her sleep. She is now transformed into an incredibly alluring woman, as when she once seduced Amfortas. She mocks Klingsor's mutilated condition by sarcastically inquiring if he is chaste ("Ha ha! Bist du keusch?"), but she cannot resist his power.
08:19 - "Ich sah das Kind"
Kundry tells Parsifal about his mother. Kundry remembers seeing Parsifal when he was a baby on his mother's breast. She watched him grow up and, when Parsifal finally left, his mother was saddened to the point of death. She reveals many parts of Parsifal's history to him and he is stricken with remorse, blaming himself for his mother's death. He thinks himself very stupid to have forgotten her. Kundry says this realization is a first sign of understanding and that, with a kiss, she can help him understand his mother's love.
13:27 - "Seit Ewigkeiten harre ich deiner"
Kundry explains to Parsifal about her difficult life and the curse that has been set upon her. Throughout the tale, she continus to try and seduce Parsifal, hoping that he will think it will remove her sin. As they kiss Parsifal suddenly recoils in pain and cries out Amfortas' name: he feels the wounded king's pain burning in his own side and now understands Amfortas' passion during the Grail Ceremony. Filled with this compassion, Parsifal rejects Kundry's advances.
15:12 - Furious that her ploy has failed, Kundry tells Parsifal that if he can feel compassion for Amfortas, then he should also be able to feel it for her. She has been cursed for centuries, unable to rest, because she saw Christ on the cross and laughed at His pains. Now she can never weep, only jeer, and she is enslaved to Klingsor. Parsifal rejects her again but then asks her to lead him to Amfortas. She begs him to stay with her for just one hour, and then she will take him to Amfortas.
17:28 - When he still refuses, she curses him to wander without ever finding the Kingdom of the Grail, and finally calls on her master Klingsor to help her.
18:36 - Klingsor appears and throws the Spear at Parsifal, but it stops in midair, above his head. Parsifal takes it and makes the sign of the Cross with it. The castle crumbles and the enchanted garden withers. As Parsifal leaves, he tells Kundry that she knows where she can find him.
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[@luizfernandg]

Beautifull singing! Amazing how she is capable of shading each and every meaning present in every frase, every note, regardless of the difficulty in producing them! Bravíssima! Ifone just could walk to an opera house these days to hear something remotelly like this... I'm planning a trip to Berlin in April 2023 to visit the reopened Unter den Linden and hear "Der Ring" directed by Barenboim, but God help me not to be too desapointed with production and singing...In Munique I was at the premiere of their Ring, 10 years ago... the production was very good, as it's usually the case in München, there is no lack of money or taste there, but the singing...I'm sure they did the best they could! Nothing remotelly like this, I tell you all! God help us!

[@tenorette2003]

Now, that's beautiful Wagner singing. Jones' voice was so big, clear and flexible that time. Great!! No wobble as later...

[@rattusmusicchannel5856]

Thanks for listening

[@tabarro1877]

This is one of the finest performances ever recorded with Gwyneth! Stunning!

[@wotan10950]

Extraordinary! Kundry wasn’t one of Jones’s most important roles, but she understands the character and sings beautifully. I saw her in a Met Parsifal performance with Domingo in the mid-1990s and, although she was compelling, she had one of her more wobbly evenings.

[@javiermarting]

Her shouting is absolutely unmusical… I find it hard to understand why this lady had an international career. I still have to hear a role she sings decently.