Die Frist ist Um.

Well, it seems that Deutsche Grammophon has a new Parsifal out on the market, with no less that Domingo singing the eponymous fool's role. Superlative, as I have always felt that the last Parsifal with a real Heldentenor was Boulez' with James King in 1970. Barenboim had Siegfried Jerusalem, who is not my favorite by a long-shot, and Levine had Peter Hofmann (need I say more?).

The problem with this latest salvo from Monsalvat is the conductor. That's right Kinder, the execrable Christian Thielemann leads the Wiener Staatsoper in this performance. I haven't heard it, so it might be wonderful; however, I know Thielemann. If it's anything like his Tristan, it won't be worth the raw materials consumed. I have to hand it to Herr Thielemann, he is a master of public relations. There was a time when a conductor of his talents would have been relegated to the less-fashionable opera of a third-tier city.

I doubt this recording will do anything except cost me $70. Boulez and Barenboim still hold my affections, whatever their respective flaws are.