But despite such potential weight, from the Prelude onward the music seems airy and translucent, like a great cathedral roof sustained by soaring buttresses. But Parsifal is hardly a Christian opera; it’s an opera about Christianity. But Kundry is rejected by him, so she decides to call Klingsor who cast the Holy Spear. As he realises that he has sinned, Parsifal composes himself and cries out his pain. Wagner's stage directions are given complete and literally. A. Petersen (Isolde), B. At the Castle of Klingsor, the latter asks Kundry to entice Parsifal to make him sin, so that he can retrieve the Holy Grail. For many reasons, Parsifal remains controversial, but is also, at its best, the most grippingly transcendent experience Wagner created. But while Parsifal's subversions may be blasphemous for atheist German philosophers and dogmatic Christians, for devout Wagnerians, Parsifal is heaven on earth. The composer preferred to call his mature works “music dramas” to distinguish them from “conventional” opera, but he set Parsifal even further apart by naming it a Bühnenweihfestspiel, a “festival He visits the gardens of Villa Rufolo in the city of Ravello that inspire him for the staging of Parsifal, especially the scene at Klingsor Castle turned into a beautiful garden with young girls in bloom trying to seduce Parsifal. Fühlst du im Herzen", Part 3.: "Heil mir, dass ich dich wiederfinde! October 22, 2020 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | MUSIC, Non-Fiction, Opera, OPERA, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS, WAGNER, WRITING & LITERATURE | 0 Comments | 0 (The Music of Redemption) by Roger Scruton (2020) Some Brief Words From the Wise on Holy Communion Weh über mich! - Ein wenig Rast", Part 1.: "Nicht Dank! Plácido Domingo (Parsifal), Waltraud Meier (Kundry), Franz-Josef Selig (Gurnemanz), Wolfgang Bankl (Klingsor), Ain Anger (Titurel), Falk Struckmann (Amfortas), Janina Baechle (Alto Stimme) Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Christian Thielemann. Tatjana Gürbaca sees in this production an end game between two worlds in crisis. Pros: No matter how glittering the cast (and make no mistake, the cast in this instance is quite glittering), Hans Knappertsbusch was always the star of the show whenever he conducted Parsifal. Recommended. his is my translation of Wagner's poem into modern English prose. It is a huge success. Indeed, the machinery system for scenery  change of the first act was not fast enough to match the score. While the composition of the work is not yet complete, the rehearsals begin in Bayreuth, and the German composer Humperdinck (Hänsel and Gretel) was a great help a few days before the premiere. A young man, guilty of having killed one of the sacred swans of Montsalvat, is brought in by a troop of warriors. It was also his only work written expressly for the Bayreuth theatre, which after a lengthy but fruitless fundraising effort (an approach to Chancellor Bismarck drew a blank) was eventually completed in 1875 on the back of a substantial donation from Ludwig II. Its harmonies look forward, for example, to Debussy, who quotes Parsifal in Pelléas et Mélisande. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Klingsor then transforms his castle into a beautiful garden where young girls in bloom use their charm to seduce Parsifal, in vain. Wagner’s Parsifal. ", Part 1.: 'Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen", Part 1.: "Wein und Brot des letzten Mahles", Part 2.: "Dies alles - hab' ich nun geträumt? Nichts weisst du, was ich dich frage", Part 1.: "Vom Bade kehrt der Köning heim", Part 1.: "Nun achte wohl und lass mich seh'n", Part 1.: "Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt? She brings a balsam from Arabia to cure the king. The Grand Hotel and Des Palmes, via Roma in Palermo, where he finished the score in 1882, pays tribute to him with his bust enthroned in its superb hall. For her production of Parsifal at Opera Vlaanderen premiered in 2013, director Tatjana Gürbaca received the Opera Award for Best Anniversary Production of a Wagner Opera in London. He accepts but it has been said that only 'an innocent with a pure heart' would be able to get the Lance back and cure him. She is also voted by the German magazine Opernwelt Best Director of the Year 2013, while the production is consecrated by the magazine as the best of the 2012-2013 season. Amfortas, King of the Grail Knights, has been in constant pain and shame ever since losing the Holy Spear when led sensuously astray in the neighbouring realm of the conniving Klingsor. By entering your details, you are agreeing to Classical Music terms and conditions. With an unmatched postwar cast of George London as Amfortas, Martti Talvela as Titurel, Hans Hotter as Gurnemanz, Gustav Neidlinger as Klingsor, and Jess Thomas in the title role, plus the unfailingly idiomatic Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and stereo sound so real you can smell in the incense, Knapperstbusch's Parsifal was then, is now, and forever shall be the one true Parsifal. Composed in the last years of his life from 1877 to 1882 (he died in 1883), Parsifal is the fruit of a mature reflection, a kind of point of acme of the most dear themes to Wagner. Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. It is undoubtedly not a coincidence that the German composer entitled his work Parsifal Bünhnenweihfestspiel, or ‘sacred scenic festival’, marking more than ever his interest for religion and philosophy: Christian symbolism, Buddhism, and finally Schopenhauer's philosophy (The World as Will and Representation) makes it a work tinged with mysticism. In the Pyrenees, the old Knight Titurel lives in the Castle of Montsalvat where the Grail is held. Cosima (who in 1870 won her battle to divorce Hans von Bülow and marry Wagner) later fought to have it performed there and there alone, and many claim it only sounds authentic in that unique acoustic. Why was Erik Satie sentenced to eight days in jail? Among them, Hans Knappertsbusch was the last of the great pre-war Wagner conductors, and his postwar Bayreuth performances of the canonical operas have always been regarded as among the finest of their era. ", Part 3.: "Geleiten wir im bergenden Schrein", Part 3.: "Ja, Wehe! Already have an account with us? The story of Wagner's opera, Parsifal, is set in the Montserrat mountains of northern Spain. In "Wagner’s Parsifal: The Music of Redemption," Sir Roger Scruton guides us—like Virgil—through the twisty cosmos of Richard Wagner and leaves us at the gates of paradise. Wagner called Parsifal not a Bühnenfestspiel like the Ring, but a Bühnenweihfestspiel – not a stage festival play, but a stage consecration festival play. 5 things to know about Parsifal. ", Part 1.: "Recht so! Only Kundry is able to do so. This performance is no longer viewable as video-on-demand for rights reasons but other material about the production is still available. We tell the story of Wagner's opera, Parsifal, based on a 13th-century epic poem about an Arthurian knight on a quest for the Holy Grail. Part 1.: "Seht dort, die wilde Reiterin! Upset, Kundry understands she has to break Klingsor’s enchantment and look for redemption in Parsifal’s love. The quality of the score is extraordinary. Wagner's final opera, his self-described "sacred festival stage play," Parsifal is a work steeped in the Christian mythology of the cross and the blood, but its message of compassion through suffering and transcendence through renunciation is more Buddhist than Christian. In Gürbaca's vision, Kundry becomes the focal point of all history, the woman who sacrifices herself for both communities and in which all the paradoxes and contradictions of history converge. Although the Grail community and Klingsor's world are opposed, they remain inevitably linked through Kundry, who serves these two worlds. 1° The themes dear to Wagner gathered in his last opera. It is not a poetic translation (on the subject of which, see below), nor is it intended for singing. ", Part 3.: "Nicht so! ", Part 1.: "Nun sag'! Her corrupt master, the enchanter Klingsor appears only briefly in Act II. In common with Tristan it often suggests yearnings, but for relief and redemption rather than erotic self-negation, and the revivifying presence of the Grail itself. Wagner: Parsifal. With a duration of 5 hours on average, Parsifal is one of the longest operas ever composed, although its duration varies from one conductor to another. Composed in the last years of his life from 1877 to 1882 (he died in 1883), Parsifal is the fruit of a mature reflection, a kind of point of acme of the most dear themes to Wagner. He also visits the city of Siena with his friend the painter Paul von Joukowsky, and in particular the cathedral, which inspires him the temple where lies the Holy Grail. Cornelius Meister conducts Opera Vlaanderen's acclaimed production of Parsifal. Humperdinck, who was assisting Wagner, took the lead in relieving his master with the idea of ​​composing some additional measures to allow the set and the music to coincide. As Wagner was aware, its legendary background is pagan – the ‘Graal’ only evolved in late medieval times into Christ’s chalice at the Last Supper, later used to catch his blood. Back to the castle of Grail, Parsifal heals Amfortas by touching him with the Holy Spear. The premiere of the Sacred Scenic Festival is given in Bayreuth on 26 July 1882, under the baton of Herman Levy and 16 performances followed. The Bayreuth Festival will retain Parsifal performance rights for almost 20 years, thus allowing - with a few exceptions - no performance of the opera outside the Sacred Hill. Perhaps; but it’s also the concentration of age and experience, and it greatly enhances the work’s unique atmosphere. Gurnemanz understands he is the 'innocent with a pure heart' and crown him king of Grail and baptizes Kundry. During this period, Wagner travels regularly to Italy where he draws for a large part his inspiration for various purposes.

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