Valery Gergiev has not been associated with Wagner, despite a much travelled Ring which came to the UK but was not admired. It was felt he hadn't engaged with the over-arching scale of the music. This mesmerising Parsifal, his first complete Wagner recording, should banish that prejudice. The cast is outstanding, with impressive performances from the brilliant René Pape (Gurnemanz) and Evgeny Nikitin (Amfortas). This is a mostly live performance from St Petersburg, with some weaknesses from Gary Lehman's Parsifal and Violeta Urmana's Kundry. But the orchestral playing is alive, warm and incisive, the tempo spacious but never dragging. This is a landmark for Gergiev and, at mid-price – or even if it were full-price – worth every penny.