Burkhard Fritz & Katarina Dalayman Headline Victorian Opera’s First ‘Parsifal’

By Francisco Salazar

Wagner’s “Parsifal” will be staged for the first time at the Victorian Opera.

The opera will be the company’s biggest undertaking as it will include a cast of 83 singers and 75 musicians. Roger Hodgman will direct a production designed by some of Australia’s most accomplished theatre artists, Christina Smith, Richard Roberts, and Matt Scott.

The opera will star revered German tenor Burkhard Fritz in the title role, soprano Katarina Dalayman as Kundry, and English bass-baritone Peter Rose as Gurnemanz. Melbourne-born bass-baritone Derek Welton will also star as Klingsor and baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Titurel.

Of the undertaking, conductor Richard Mills, Artistic Director of Victorian Opera, said, “Parsifal is a mystical vision in sound: unlike anything else in music. It is the distillation of Wagner’s mature wisdom: a profound exploration of love, both carnal and spiritual, suffering, redemption, and salvation.”

Mills also noted, “This great cast, singers of wide experience in these roles, will bring an extraordinary dimension to these performances – which unite some of the world’s greatest singers with Victorian Opera’s wonderful ensemble and the vitality and energy of the Australian Youth Orchestra.”

“Parsifal” will be performed three times on Feb. 20, 22, and 24.

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