Bieito's Parsifal in Stuttgart: the pix!

I, as the fool Parsifal in a drug induced state, became a suckling infant. (.)(.)

All pics (C) Martin Sigmund for the Staatsoper Stuttgart

And some more...

The castle of Monsalvat will never be the same again: Bieito's Parsifal in Stuttgart

Till today, this was the only photo that had been given to the media, shot during rehearsals for the new staging of PARSIFAL, directed by catalan bad boy of opera Calixto Bieito. Rumours have been spreading during the last few weeks about how Bieito would handle Wagner's Bühnenweihfestspiel:

For Bieito, Wagner’s libretto shows obsessed characters, which are exposed to manipulation through guilt and harm– there is no possibility of salvation in afterlife. Love and trust in this life alone can convey security and confidence. In that way one gains responsibility and respect for one’s environment and one’s own life. Parsifal becomes aware of his responsibility during the stages of his “aventure”. “In the end”, Bieito says, “the light will come from within ourselves”.

Inspired by the novel “The Road” by American author Cormac McCarthy, Bieito’s Parsifal is confronted with the remains of civilisation. The protagonists in the novel, father and son, wander through post-apocalyptic, deserted and desolate America. Accordingly, Bieito sees Parsifal set in an apocalyptic scenery. Stage designer Susanne Gschwender creates a destroyed landscape covered by ash, where a ruined motorway bridge is the only evidence of a bygone civilisation. Mercè Paloma provides the characters with an existential basic outfit: Protection from heat, cold and pollution.

A few more hints were already given by tenor Andrew Richards, singing Parsifal, at his own blog:

There is a brutality to the regie that I find somehow exciting in Act One. Milling is masterful in keeping his musical lines flowing all the while beating someone to death. Not an easy thing to accomplish, brutality juxtaposed with musical serenity.
~.~

Dear Mom, Your son managed to make it thru the staging rehearsal of the "Love" Duet scene of Parsifal Act 2 without public nudity. Shirt's off, but pants stay on. Thought you'd like to know....

Much love, Andy
p.s. Of course, we're only half way thru the scene....
~.~

Nothing whatsoever shocking or controversial happened today. Except the part where I, as the fool Parsifal in a drug induced state, became a suckling infant. (.)(.)

~.~

I keep getting people emailing me about the Blumenmädchen scene. Hmmmmm.....how do I put this? Let your imagination go wild...it won't disappoint the Bieito fans.
~.~

I hope to champion that moment as well with the time I'm putting in on the treadmill (very hard to get my butt to the gym though when I'm feeling near dead at the end of a rehearsal).
~.~

Apparently, Andrew Richards got his butt to the gym several times after rehearsal:

***NSFW***

-exclusively at parsifal's-
(click to enlarge)

And if you think this's just it, here's what maestro Manfred Honeck said of Andrew Richard's Parsifal:

"With his dramatic voice he will be the Parsifal of the next ten years internationally"

Parsifal at the Staatsoper Stuttgart opens on March the 28th. All performances are sold-out.

Interpreting the title role, Andrew Richards makes his debut in Stuttgart. American baritone Gregg Baker sings Amfortas. Stephen Milling and Johann Tilli sing Gurnemanz. Christiane Iven sings Kundry, Claudio Otelli is Klingsor and Matthias Hölle is Titurel.

Arizona Werther

One more tenor stepping in for Jonas Kaufman who seems to be still recovering from a bad cold. Andrew Richards, our fav Arizona guy got on a plane to Paris today and will sing the tomorrow performance of Werther as announced at the Paris Opera web.

Toi X 3 for Andrew!

ps. James Valenti who was originally covering for Kaufmann is currently in Santander rehearsing for La Boheme (2 performances on 28+30 January)

Andrew Richards, from Phoenix, Arizona

Andrew Richards is one of the rising stars of the new generation of singers. Even if it's already been 10 years since his debut at the NYCO as Pinkerton, it's only during the last few years that he seems to be establishing himself as one of the most interesting young tenors, mainly in Europe -his base for the time being is Berlin where he resides with his family since 2005.


Andrew Richards was - till a few days ago- singing Pollione at the Bayerische Staatsoper next to the Norma of Edita Gruberova and is currently singing Don José at the Arena di Verona.

Listen to Andrew Richards in "Mecco all altar" in one of his recent performances in Munich

On June the 30th, France Musique broadcast his Don José next to Anna Caterina Antonacci´s wonderful Carmen from the Opera Comique

Listen to Andrew Richars in La fleur que tu m' avais jeteé

In December 2008, Richards sang Samson in Bucharest from where you can hear the Finale of the opera.

On May the 20th 2009, Richards was called on very short notice to replace Ramón Vargas (who was supposed to replace Rolando) as Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper. His Charlotte, none other than Elina Garanca.

Listen to Richards in "Pourquoi me reveiller" from that very night.

Richards is also an avid blogger and in his latest post you can learn a lot about the toilets of the Bayerische Staatsoper (or rather a very spicific one) - but here's my favourite amongst his latest posts.

@ Youtube you can also find plenty of videos, Andrew has his own channel as well.



Promising, right? Even if a bit immature still but I would definitely "bet" on him...