A knight’s tale: Brindley Sherratt on the stamina and storytelling of Wagner’s Parsifal
16.06.2022 - 15:45
/ msn.com
explore further some of the many great minds who have pondered its wider and deeper meanings. The role I’m singing is the old knight Gurnemanz. Bizarrely, despite being the longest role of the opera by a clear hour, in terms of notes sung, he is not one of the main characters of the story.
He is, in effect, the narrator, but one who is actively involved in the events and carries all in his head and heart. It’s a bucket list role for an operatic bass and I’ve wanted to sing it ever since I first heard it performed at the Royal Opera House several years ago. What is so great about it then? It is so multifaceted and gives the singer lots of opportunities to show what he can do, and you need all the tools in the box to do it.
There’s slow sustained singing (like press-ups, always harder than the quick stuff) loud and dramatic, soft and tender; there’s anger, sadness and ecstasy to portray, and it requires a large vocal and dynamic range. The opposite of a “park and bark” role, this is one that requires vivid storytelling. Diction needs to be front of the mouth stuff, and perhaps most importantly, you need heaps of stamina.
If you were to set your stopwatch and sing the role from beginning to end non-stop it would take about 95 minutes, and that doesn’t include time standing on stage while someone else is singing at you. By comparison the role of Parsifal is approximately 25 minutes of actual singing – and he still gets the best dressing room!Gallery: The definitive ranking of every visual album (Yardbarker)I’m fairly sure I could not have sung this fella even 10 years ago, I just didn’t have the vocal stamina or power. It’s important to tackle this repertoire only when you have got a few miles on the clock and know better
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