by Sam Juliano
One of Western culture’s most famous contradictions is an oddity that broaches but never solves one of life’s greatest mysteries. Richard Wagner, celebrated creator of a brace of philosophically complex “music dramas,” and most influential composer who ever lived, was also a well-known anti-Semite, and a mean-spirited and abusive family man. That such a person could write what is quite possibly the most ravishingly beautiful and spiritually infused music of all-time is a testament to to the concept that beauty can emanate from the most unlikely sources, where the most soulful kind of artistic expression takes no sides in choosing its creator.
But the composer’s final work, Parsifal, which premiered at Bayreuth in 1878, yields further incongruities connected to its reception and political standing, both of which seem to suggest that Wagner purged himself of his demons and embraced ideals that were in diametric opposition to his inner self. Adolf Hitler, whose adoration for Wagner’s previous work -especially his monumental Die Ring der Niebelungen and Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg- was infamous, banned any performances of the opera in 1939, presumably because the work’s message of pacifism and its seeming promotion of the Christian ideal of suffering ran counter to the ideologies of the Third Reich. Hence, Parsifal has never been a work to attract tame response, and the opera has been variously described as sublime, heinous or decadent, which specifically some critics have simultaneously embraced its epic wonderment while still judging it as “a profoundly inhuman spectacle, that glorifies a barren masculine world whose ideals are a combination of militarism and monasticism.” (Peter Wapnewski) Considering the suggestive allegory Wagner designed for what he called his ‘last card’ and ‘farewell to the world’ the controversy is hardly surprising. However, whether Parsifal is a sinister militant fantasy about the redemption of an Aryan Jesus from Judaism or just a feeble Armeggedon cocktail with a strong twist of Shopenhauer, critics of its supposed humanity will never be able to solve the magisterial beauty of its score nor account for the fact that aggression is completely contrary to the opera’s central idea. Indeed, the opera’s first act overture is among the most sublime passages in all of music with it’s slow tempo mid-way coda, one of the most ravishing themes ever heard by the human ear. The theme is encored generously through the work, and basically serves as it’s musical identification, with it’s majestic sweep and melodious flow evincing an unusual but indellible blend of bliss and melencholy.
The opera is invariably based on the concept of compassion as interpreted from the work of Schopenhauer, but in the end shaped with Wagner’s sensibilities and philosophical variations. Shopenhauer and Wagner shared the same view of compassion as applicable to the violent chaos of the world, where they found their common ground in a moral response. The opera is fundamentally a cathartic ritual that unfolds in three cycles, each more intense than the last. The melancholy history of the Grail community, however, which has taken place before the action begins, slowly asserts itself too as the work progresses. Parsifal is by no means just a comforting vision of a possible future state of grace. The gradual fullfillment of the prophecy announced at the start – the coming of the redeemer made wise through compassion – is also precariously balanced against irrevocably painful memories of the past. The action takes place in Spain in two contrasting worlds on the same mountain range. To the north on the Christian side lies Monsalvat, the castle of the knights of the Grail, which was built by Titural as a shrine for the chalice used at the Last Supper in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood of Christ on the cross, and for the spear that pierced Christ’s side. Only those who are chaste through spiritual self-examination may take part in the live-given ritual of the unveiling of the Grail. (i.e. the chalice) by Titurel’s son Amfortas, the present king. On the southern slope facing Moorish (heathen) Spain is Klingsor’s castle. Once a pious hermit unable to suppress sinful desire through reflection, Klingsor castrated himself and was spurned by the Grail community. Determined to possess the chalice and the spear for himself, he turned to paganism and magic in order to lure the Grail knights into his magic garden where his seductive flower maidens trap them with the very power they have learned to suppress. Linking the two worlds is Kundry, who once laughed at Christ on the cross snd is condemned to live for eternity, both as a decoy and prostitute in Klingsor’s castle, and as a repentant slave in the kingdom of the Grail. Klingsor has absolute power over her, as only he knows of her history and her tormented double existence, from which she seeks in vain to be delivered through death. On his orders she once seduced Amfortas, who had set out with the holy spear to put an end to Klingsor’s threat. Klingsor stole the spear with which he seriously wounded Amfortas in the side. Amfortas was led home by his trusty knight Gurnemanz to administer the unveiling of the Grail. But his wound refuses to heal with the consequence that the ritual has become a torture and his kingdom increasingly desolate.
In the first act an innocent youth named Parsifal wonders from the forest to the Kingdom of the Grail, where he meets Gurnemanz, who takes him to the castle housing Amfortas and the other knights. Without participating or understanding, young Parsifal observes the unveiling of the Grail and the rite of communion. Hanging out around Monsalvat is Kundry, but here she appears as a wild maiden, unkempt and sullen, with a wholly different personality, who serves as friend and messenger of the knights. The knights send Parsifal away–with just a late fleeting thought that he might be the innocent fool, made wise by pity, who can cure and redeem Amfortas. When Parsifal wanders into Klingsor’s woods, he’s tempted first by teh seduction-minded lovelies and then by Kundry, now again in the role of a beautiful enchantress. In this realm she’s the slave of Klingsor, under his evil power because of her own past sins. Her assignment is to seduce Parsifal, thus rendering him helpless. As there is lust in the youth’s heart she nearly brings it off, but Parsifal is of stern and unyielding even after sharing the kind of sensuous kiss that brought Amfortas and a brace of the knights to their knees. He recoils from the kiss, recalls his mother, understands now what has caused Amfortas to sin, feels compassion for him, becomes “wise through pity,” and recognizes that he has a redemption mission to perform, which is gain possession of the spear, find his way back to the knights, and touch-and-heal Amfortas. Kundry, unaccustomed to losing in these “sex scenes” calls on her master Klingsor for help. Klingor responds by throwing the magic spear at Parsifal, but it is mysteriously suspended in midair over Parsifal’s head. Seizing it, he makes the sign of the cross, Klingsor’s realm disintegrates, and Kundry is freed. After years of wandering (Kundry has cursed all paths back to Monsalvat), Parsifal returns to Grail country as a knight in black armor, carrying the sacred spear. It is Good Friday. At first the aging Gurnemanz chides the strange knight for being armed on this sacred ground, but he then recognizes both Parsifal and the spear, and knows that redemption is imminent. Returning to favor, Kundry baths Parsifal’s feet and dries them with her hair. After Gurnemanz names him new king of the Holy Grail, Parsifal’s first act is to forgive and baptizr Kundry. They join wounded and weary Amfortas, who has wished for death ever since events that pre-dated the opera, and who urged other knights to kill him. But when Parsifal touches Amfortas’s wound, with the sacred spear, the wound is healed instantly. As the knights pay homage to Parsifal, he holds up the Grail, and Kundry, now forgiven for her sins and at rest, dies peacefully.
In addition to the aforemention Act I Overture, Parsifal contains exceedingly beautiful music throughout. In Act I the mysterious ‘transformation music’ ushers in the Grail Castle from the previous forest primeval. In Act II the Flower Maiden chorus underlines Parsifal’s temptation, while in Act III the magnificent and trademark “Good Friday Music” makes it’s initial appearance after Parsifal, as the newly annointed King of the Grail, baptizes Kundry. This tone painting is one of Wagner’s best-known and most beloved themes. From the baptism till the end of the opera, the music is sumblimity incarnate. As in all Wagner operas (in the day they were known as “music dramas”) the massive orchestra is what fuels the entire presentation, overriding the singers and vocal music.
In the tradition of maverick Peter Sellars, German director Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, brings a radical new approach to the opera that is consistent with the avante garde application he employed in his great masterpiece Hitler: A Film From Germany, that may well have resulted in the most elaborately executed opera in film history. With a Brechtian aesthetic at work, and an acute focus on historical and cultural elements, Syberberg’s Parsifal brings together cultural and historical elements in a surrelistic design that often brings in contemporary context through the use of allusion and recurring motifs. Syberberg is true to the Christian messages of compassion. Syberberg wants to re-invent the viewer’s relationship with the material by bringing attention to certain obstrusive elements in the filmmaking process. Syberberg’s meticulous attention to detail and deliberate pacing are joined with an exceeding sense of theatricality to enhance the film’s universal themes. But Syberberg is fiercely loyal to the opera’s narrative arc and the music, as well as he should be. It’s actually an opera that would have intrinsic appeal to the erstwhile enterprising director, what with it’s fascinating blend of puity, paganism, madness and Christianity brought together with an air of acute uncertainty.
Taking his cue from his own Hitler: A Film From Germany Syberberg initially presents Amfortas with puppet theatre visual designs, which segues into on on stage mythical tableux and then an abstract profile of Wagner that suggests the wood-cut design in picture-books It’s no conincidence that a scarlet swastika is then seen is among the flags in the hall of the Grail, as Syberberg’s idea was to accentuate the longtime association of composer and dictator, wven with the marriage in disaray in the instance of one opera. Both Syberberg’s mise en scene and Parsifal himself begin to mutate, and there is preponderance of castration imagery, fog everywhere and caricatures of Wagner are showcased with more than a satirical application. Similar to the way the narrative morphed in Hitler, Syberberg spends the visualization of the Act III in Parsifal examining Wagner’s believes and prejudices, much as he did with the fascist dictator in the earlier film. As a result, the film ends up encompassing far more than just Wagner, but in addition Nietzsche, Marx, Schopenhauer, German art, and even silent cinema from Murnau and Lang. By offering up a comprehensive visual survey of Western culture with allusions to literature, painting, politics, philosophy, music, theatre and the cinema from the perspective of a German scholar, the director is able to properly frame an opera that was created with a similarly vast array of artistic and cultural reference points, but even more importantly to unmask a work’s inner essence, which has never been readily apparent to even the most avid Wagnerians. Time transition and movement in procession are two elements that dominate the cinematic landscape of the film. Wagner’s score actually dictates the procession of knights and Syberberg gives that aspect added heft, beginning when Amfortas is followed down to the lake and back again. In the Grail Temple, the knights march with their weapons and relics, such as chalices and even a statue of the young Parsifal, and the pages bear the bleeding wound. Then in the third act, the march becomes a procession of the living dead. Syberberg introduces other processions too, which are not required by the stage directions, such as the pages with the dead swan, or the group that searches for and brings back the Grail, and enormous rock in the shape of a platonic solid. Where a stage production of Parsifal is normally far more standard and tame, Syberberg introduces purposeful movement, with the camera also moving with the procession. In the transition scene of the first act, we follow Parsifal and Gurnemanz through a maze: moving in space, they seem to move backwards in time from the present, passing through the Nazi era on the way. In the transition scene of the third act, the path to the Grail Temple seems to pass through the sky.
Aided by cinematographer Igor Luther and costume directors Veronika Dorn and Hella Wolter, Syberberg practically reinvents the studio shoot with his unique interpretation of the great masterpiece as a confirmation of a decaying Europe, envisioned with the rotating time frame and an equal balance of the mythological and the real. Of course, Syberberg’s more subtle observations and settings are surrounded by his most visually spectacular idea-having the entire production staged within an enormous set of Wagner’s death mask, and he is assisted by some exceptional performers, some of whose singing is understandably dubbed. First and foremost is Edith Clever as Kundry, whose singing is negotiated by Yvonne Minton, but Armin Jordan as Amfortas, Michael Kutter and Karen Krick as Parsifals 1 & 2 and Aage Haugland as Klingsor are all most fine. It seems like a match made in heaven, or maybe in Haides: Syberberg and Wagner. Two of the most radical artists of their eras joining hands in a procession that weds the allegorical with the metaphysical, the literary with the theatrical, the political with the theological. It dares to bring added meaning to one of art’s most unassailable treasures, and that’s no small achievement.
How Parsifal made the ‘Elite’ 70″
Sam Juliano’s Number 6 choice
Allan Fish’s Number 36 choice
I haven’t seen either the film or the opera, but your very fine introduction has made me determined to do so, Sam. Schopenhauer’s fascinating rabbit-hole plunge into the territory of “disinterestedness,” which Nietzsche so crudely dismissed as a betrayal of his work’s heretofore manic energies, is a keynote for great music, absorbing logic; and your account thrillingly begins to make it accessible to your readers.
Thanks so much for that Jim! Yep, there’s a clash between those two great minds, as well there would be, and Syberberg brings both into acute focus, while he examines the philosophical underpinning of this very great work.
I like your framing in the introduction, discussing the power of Parsifal and the personality of Wagner and am intrigued by the subject matter and also the possibilities of Syberberg + Wagner. Out of curiosity, speaking entirely personally, is this your favorite Wagner?
It’s certainly my favourite Wagner, Joel. Along with Don Giovanni my favourite opera of them all. I’d say the Ring is Wagner’s cornerstone, let’s call it his spine, his central nervous system, but Parsifal is the soul of his music. And Syberberg does it more than justice. As does Sam with his typically encyclopedic piece, a benchmark in every respect.
Thanks for the kind words, Allan.
Joel–
It may well be my favorite Wagner, which is tantamount to my saying it’s the greatest opera ever written. But it is always difficult to choose from among this, The Ring Cycle, Der Mesistersinger Von Nurnberg and Trsitan und Isole. But I’ve seen Parsifal five times on stage (more than any other) and it’s ravishing music is dearest to my heart almost to the point of spirituality.
Sam, I never could have figured you to go even further than you did with The Magic Flute, but it’s happened. This is a sensational review that takes on Wagner, Parsifal, Hitler, and the entire swath of culture in Germany and Europe at the time. The opera’s music, the abstract nature of this version, and your incredible description of the opera’s plot, well you have written a remarkable monster essay that sets the bar for this countdown and for anything else at the site for that matter.
But I fear this won’t be a piece many will be able to sort out, as few if any have seen it or are familiar with the opera. I see you and Mr. Fish have very good taste.
Frank–
Aside from the over-the-top appraisal (which of course is much appreciated) I appreciate the excellent take you presented here, which points to the major concerns in the review. It’s less that Allan and I “have good taste” than it is that we were the only ones to see it.
Thanks again.
Sam this is one of the best pieces I have ever read on this site. Along with Bob’s Heavens Gate and a few others, this is WITD at its absolute best. I must admit that I have never watched this musical, but will definitely place it on my Netflix queue immediately.
Maurizio—
Thanks very much for those exceedingtly kind words. I am not sure where the essay ranks at WitD, where there has been so much excellent writing since the site’s inception three years ago, but it’s consideration of one of the greatest works in all of art in any form. That could safely be asserted without hyperbolic overflow. I am thrilled it has piqued your interest.
I have a copy of this opera on DVD. I understand it’s OOP and rare. This is one of your greatest essays, (if not greatest) but considering what it is I expected it. The pace of the opera is glacial. But Syberberg’s incredily rich imagery, so dense in symbolic meaning it takes repeated viewings to even begin to appreciate it all, makes every second count. Somehow the uneven quality of the lip-syching works in view of the surrealistic progression. The music is so beautiful.
Bill–
Excellent, perceptive comment as always. That’s a great point about the lip-synching and surrealism particularly! Thanks for the exceeding kind words.
“One of Western culture’s most famous contradictions is an oddity that broaches but never solves one of life’s greatest mysteries. Richard Wagner, celebrated creator of a brace of philosophically complex “music dramas,” and most influential composer who ever lived, was also a well-known anti-Semite, and a mean-spirited and abusive family man. That such a person could write what is quite possibly the most ravishingly beautiful and spiritually infused music of all-time is a testament to to the concept that beauty can emanate from the most unlikely sources, where the most soulful kind of artistic expression takes no sides in choosing its creator.”
It never fails with SAM. Put opera or classical music in front of him and brace youself for a tour-de-force of knowledge, fine critical perception and poetic prose. It just saeems like this guy gets better and better with every essay he writes and I know, for myself anyway, it makes the task of writing essays for this site harder and harder as he keeps raising the bar so high. What I like most is Sammy’s syle. He lulls you in with the first sweeping passage, like fine music itself, and then…
WHAM!
He clobbers you totally with his critical eye and points you in directions you’d have never thought you’d go in an essay on music like this. That Sam has spent much of his time thinking about his feelings on opera can be seen in the wrtiting here (and in that crazy beautiful piece he did days ago on THE MAGIC FLUTE) and you just get the sense that you’re in the hands of a true authority. It’s funny, Sam almost writes the same way he speaks. There really is no pasturization in the wording or the heartfelt inflection. I have had many a conversation in person with this man onn the subject of opera (and particularly his fave, Wagner) and the intense love and detailed critic think he brings both in voice and in written word is just about 100%.
This is a man who truly lives and breathes and passionately lovbes what he speaks and wries about.
It’s always a pleasure to see Sams name under the title of any opera or classical music review.
Dennis—
This comment is surely headed to the Guiness World Book of Records for it’s excessively high praise. I’m not quite sure I deserved all that that though. But your regular cognizance of my passion for this art form, and for this type of music is well-noted.
Thanks a million for your own brand of passion here!
By the way…
I absolutely love the poster from LOHENGRIN that Dee-Dee chose for the side-bat today!!!!!
Where’s she find that. That’s so beautiful you’d want to frame it…
Way to go DEE-DEE!!!!!
Dee Dee’s work has been thorough, creative and fully integral to the musical countdown experience, and today’s display if fully consistent with what has been an everyday visual feast.
I am embarrased at all she had done, knowing full well the kind of time it requires. But she has stood alone at this place for a very long time!
Yeah, a massive, unbelievable piece. The insights are endless. I’d also be interested in knowing how this ranks among Wagner’s work. I was very interested in reading about Hitler’s banning, since he seemed to worship everything else the composer wrote. The opening paragraph and the plot recap left me speechless.
Fred–
As I stated to Joel, I would probably consider this my absolute favorite Wagner, but there have been times in my life where I believed that DER MEISTERSINGER VON NURNBERG or the RING cycle were at the top. It’s probably silly to rank them in the first place. Hitler (and Goebbels) banned this because of what they saw as a Christian context. They loved Wagner for the most part, but took issue with some of this opera’s philosophy.
Thanks as always my friend.
I must agree with everyone else that this is a wonderful, in-depth piece, Sam – I read it this morning and have been thinking it over at intervals all day at work! I must admit that I know very little about opera and haven’t seen any full Wagner productions, so I am wondering if it would be better for me to watch a more ‘standard’ performance first in order to see what Syberberg is departing from. This musicals countdown is really a learning curve with all the different writers, and, as Dennis said, you have set the bar very high here, Sam!
Judy–
I can’t thank you enough for your incedible degree of enthusiasm and attention for the entire musical countdown. You’ve not only afforded this to the countdown, but to the diaries, Allan’s pre-coders, and virtually everything featured at the site. To say that some of this review and/or opera inspired me you to ‘think about it at work’ is the most incredible testament to Wagner or this review that could possibly be applied. Yes, you are well-advised to watch a standard production first before approaching this Syberberg. The recommended choice because of it’s traditional approach to the material and excellent subtitling is the one on DVD from the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine, with Waltrud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem, Kurt Moll and Bernd Weikl. (stage production by Otto Schenk; directed by Brian Large) Similar productions of the RING and DER MEISTERSINGER are superbly done by the Met and are on DVD as well.
Thanks again for the great words my friend.
I agree that Dee-Dee has been a major help here and her work cannot be minimalized in any way. I move for us to put a vote into the suggestion box calling for her title here at WONDER to have the added mantle of ART DIRECTOR put in for recognition. Also: DEE-DEE, where did you find that poster for LOHENGRIN???????
Dennis–
Although Dee Dee has subsequently dissented on such a proclamation, I want to say for the record that I completely agree.
As for the over-praise you accuse me of, Sam, I have this to saym. Its well deserved. I don’t think every one of almost a dozen people that have chimed in on this thread or, for that matter, THE MAGIC FLUTE thread can all be mistaken. Why don’t you just admit that that we do know what we talk about and observe. I know some might think that my long friendship with you might sway me to giving better than deserved praise, but the contrary is really true. Because you are my old friend I feel my criticisms should be tougher thayt I should be unrelenting in pressuring you to strive for better. However, I cannot push when I feel the talent is blatantly evident and any words I may say to push go for nothing in what I honestly feel is a God given talent. Frankly, with Opera, you have no competitors here. Wonderful work and a true pleasure to read. That’s my honest take… Let it be noted.
Well Dennis you are certainly resilient. Ha! Many thanks for this.
Dennis said,”I agree that Dee-Dee has been a major help here and her work cannot be minimized in any way. I move for us to put a vote into the suggestion box calling for her title here at WONDER to have the added mantle of ART DIRECTOR put in for recognition.”
Hi! Dennis…
Now, that is going too far…
“Also: DEE-DEE, where did you find that poster for LOHENGRIN???????”
…with that being said, I must admit that “flattery” will get you that information.(or everywhere? anywhere? lol) (That is the best Groucho Marx imitation that I can do right now…lol)
deedee 😉
I might have liked Wagner if I had made it through the list to this opera! When I was studying to be an opera singer and get into a big name school, I was assigned a 25 page paper on Wagner…and I had to listen to hours and hours of the heavy orchestrations, doom and gloom…then I discovered what a hateful person he was…and I just completed the assignment as quickly as possible. I can no longer sing and I was not so good anyway to make it further down the path…but now I almost never listen to or enjoy opera – I do like musicals and show tunes…but they all still make a sadness arise that concerns me.
What a great write up…Thank you for all your efforts on this one
Patricia—
You were studying to be an opera singer? Wow! The story you convey of the off-putting nature of Wagner’s music (which as you know can be as sublime as any ever written) has much validity. As magnificent as much of his music is, Wagner is actually a poor choice to initiate a study of the form. The titans of Italian opera (Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Mascagni) are the way to go at the start as their work is soaring and melodious, and with wide appeal. Bizet’s CARMEN is another to start off with. Thanks very much for this enlightening anecdote my friend, and for the very kind words!
Not familiar in the way you are, but willing to add and view –
Also, have you seen this one already? :
http://www.philipglass.com/news.php
Will be performing Philip Glass’s “Satyagraha” live and in theaters – if weather permits, will head to indy to see it Nov 19 – might be as close I can get to seeing one of his operas live – I know a dvd came out, but is hard to find at an affordable price – the lead performer on the cd was amazingly good –
Cheers!
Michael–
I have indeed seen that Glass masterwork (at the Met) and own the Image DVD of another production of it. It’s funny you mention it now, as the Met has another production lined up for this coming 2011-2012 season with seven performances scheduled for November and December. I must say I am seriously tempted:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/production.aspx?id=11700&gclid=CJvw-8ODhKsCFeF05Qodw3Zy2w
The HD simulcast of it that you will be seeing in theatres is in some ways even better than seeing it live, as I’ve argued at other opera threads.
BTW, I can do something with this DVD Michael. I’ll reach you by e mail!
Thanks again my friend.