| Main Performers | Therese Malten - Kundry,
Herr Heinrich Gudehus - Parsifal,
Herr Scaria - Guernemanz,
Herr Schuegraf - Amfortas,
Mr Henry Pyatt - Titurel, Klingsor
Mr Bernard Lane - First Knight,
Mr Bicknell Young - Second Knight,
Mrs Hutchinson - First Esquire, Third Esquire, Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Madame Norman - Second Esquire,
Mr Arthur Thompson - Fourth Esquire,
Miss Beata Francis - Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Miss Thorndike - Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Miss Hilda Coward - Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Madame Hirlemann - Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Miss Marianne Fenna - Klingsor's Flower Maiden,
Madame Albani,
Madame Valleria,
Miss Anna Williams,
Miss Griswold,
Madame Patey,
Miss Hilda Wilson,
Mr Edward Lloyd,
Mr Charles Wade,
Mr Santley,
Mr F Barrington Foote,
Mr R Watkin Mills |
| Choirs | Royal Albert Hall Choral Society (Royal Choral Society) |
| Set List | 'Parsifal', Richard Wagner |
| Performance Notes | The Royal Albert hall Choral Society's fourteenth season began with two performances of Wagner's 'Parsifal' . Wagner's last opera, 'Parsifal' had been premiered at the Bayreuth Festival only six months prior to Sir Joseph Barnby bringing it to England. The stage performance of 'Parsifal' outside Bayreuth was prohibited and so Barnby changed it to an oratorio so that it could be held at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Court Journal (15 November 1884) wrote, 'The lovers of Wagner have Wagnerised to their heart's delight this week at the Albert Hall on the production of Parsifal. It was capitally given, and showed the maestro off at his best. His perfection as a scholar was exhibited boldly, and at the same time his marvellous deficiency [sic] as an originator and a thoughtful composer. These were more markedly detected than ever. Mr Barnby deserves the greatest praise for a masterly rendering, his choir being perfection. It is said that some of the pieces were sung in a more perfect manner than they have even been at Bayreuth.'
The Musical Times thought that conductor Joseph Barnby could have, '...the satisfaction of knowing his name will henceforth be linked with one of the most remarkable events of the mucial life of the metropolis.' (The Musical Times, vol.25, no.502 (December 1884) pg 694.).
An open dress rehearsal at the Hall was held on Saturday 8 November 1884 for subscribers of a series of eight subscription concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. This was the first such subscriber event and ran from 19:00-23:00.
A programme book for the concerts called 'An Attempt at Analysis' was written by Wagnerian critic and The Times musical correspondent, Francis Hueffer and published by the promoter.
"No applause has ever been bestowed upon a musician more justly than that which again and again recalled Mr Barnby to the platform after the second performance of Parsifal on Saturday afternoon had come to a close. That gentlemen's name will always be connected with one of the most memorable events the history of English music has had to record of late years."
(The Times, 17 November 1884) |