Parsifal, "A sacred festival stage play in three perspectives" written and composed by Richard Wagner was first produced in 1882 at the second Bayreuth Festival. Based on a medieval story, he took the German epic poem Parzival, by Wolfram von Eschenbach, as the starting point of the narrative.
In the premiere on March 31 -not coincidentally, the night before Easter Monday, StaatsTheater hosted the wonderful production with StaatsPhilarmonie NÜrnberg, which was conducted by Roland Böer. In the 5 hours long opera, main roles was performed by
Parsifal (naïve hero, a youth): Tadeusz Szlenkier
Amfortas (King of the Kingdom of the Grail): Ks. Jochen Kupfer
Titurel (a retired king of the Kingdom of the Grail, father to Amfortas): Nicolai Karnolsky
Gurnemanz (an elderly knight of the Grail): Patrick Zielke / Taras Konoshchenko
Klingsor (an evil magician): Wonyong Kang
Kundry (woman sorcerer, a messenger of the Grail): Anna Gabler / Almerija Delic.
Story and Themes
is describing "Parzival’s painful journey from utter ignorance and naïveté to spiritual awareness. The poem by von Eschenbach, dated between 1200 and 1210, introduced the theme of the Holy Grail into German literature, and it is considered to be the climax of medieval Arthurian tradition. It questions the ultimate value of an education based solely on the code of courtly honour, and it takes its hero beyond the feudal world of knights and lords to the threshold of a higher order." 1
Wagner and making of modern German Identity
The Holy Grail is the vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper and given to Joseph of Arimathea and the Spear is what was believed to have wounded Jesus on the cross. By using the German epics based on Christian stories, Wagner created a modern story of Germany which was unified in 1871 and contributed to the creation of modern German identity.
Redemption
Living in 19th century Germany and was born in Leipzig, Wagner had been an enthusiast for the revolutions of 1848 and had been an active participant in the Dresden Revolution of 1849, as a consequence of which he was forced to live for many years in exile from Germany. Like many people, he had a life full of ups and downs and changes, also in terms of his relationship with people in his life and money. Later in his life, he developed a worldview which is based on Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's ideas, with a Christian interpretation.
Within this context, he put a special emphasis on the "Redemption" in his works. The redemption of Jesus Christ, the redemption of his characters and the redemption of himself.
In the last act of the opera, Kundry, who caused the suffering of Parsifal and the Knights, having gained forgiveness, falls lifeless to the floor. The opera ends with the very strange words "the redeemer redeemed".
By forgiving and killing Kundry on stage for the sake of saving Amfortas, Knights and Parsifal, Wagner metaphorically seeks the forgiveness and to be redeemed for himself (almost in a Caravaggion way, depicted in David and the Head of Goliath).
Although, in Parsifal, redemption is coming through Death, in Tristan und Isolde, it is coming through Love. To be explored in future articles.
Bayreuth Festspiele
Wagner founded a special house for his works in Bayreuth, its official name is Richard-Wagner-Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882.
"Unlike the traditional opera house design with several tiers of seating in a horseshoe shaped auditorium, the Festspielhaus's seats are arranged in a single steeply-shaped wedge, with galleries or boxes along the back wall only. This is also known as continental seating. Many contemporary movie theaters have adopted this style of seating, which gives every seat an equal and uninterrupted view of the stage. ...
A significant feature of the Festspielhaus is its unusual orchestra pit. It is recessed under the stage and covered by a hood, so that the orchestra is completely invisible to the audience. This feature was a central preoccupation for Wagner, since it made the audience concentrate on the drama onstage, rather than the distracting motion of the conductor and musicians."2
Musical Concepts
Prelude
In opera, each Act begins with a short introduction music, which is called Prelude or Overture. In the first examples in 17th century, Preludes were only few minutes long, however with the latest works of Wagner, it reached to 10 minutes and longer. Almost a work by itself, prelude had a function to introduce the musical ideas, leitmotivs of the following Act.
In Wagner operas, characters, emotions, objects, or ideas are represented with a leitmotivs which, later on, adopted by other opera composers and film music writers. While introducing the musical ideas of the act, Prelude also gives the summary of the Act, almost as if a movie trailer.
Gesamtkunstwerk
The concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (“total art work”) suggests that all artistic elements of an opera; singing, music, staging, lights, story, etc. should serve to the drama. Therefore, he preceded the modern cinema, where all the artistic features such as pictures, music and story serves to the dramatic expression in a unified way.
Opera and Cinema
Narrative Arc
Before cinema, there was opera. Invention of the camera and sound recording made the modern movies possible, however, the essence of drama remained the same (even since antique theatre); narrative arc:
Exposition. This is the reader's introduction to the story. - Act 1
Rising action. This is when conflict begins to ramp up. - Act 2
Climax. - Act 2
Falling action. - Act 2
Resolution. - Act 3
Music vs Picture
In opera, music is the main element telling the story, whereas in cinema, pictures. Yet, both use each other's strengths for storytelling.
Besides the advantage of visual storytelling and digital opportunities, the main reason why cinema is growing more and giving birth to different varieties and opera is remaining as a time travel activity to 19th century is the different rhythm of both forms.
Rhythm of life
Even before the social media and reducing of attention span of an average person to 8 seconds, the speed of life was so different than 19th century in the highly industrialized societies 20th and 21st centuries. Inevitably, art forms of a society is determined by the lifestyle and the rhythm of life, therefore, opera is destined to stay as the popular form of a previous life, where cinema and video will reign longer.
Lord of The Rings
Resemblance of the characters of Parsifal and Lord of The Rings
Parsifal (naïve hero, a youth): Frodo, Bilbo
Amfortas (King of the Kingdom of the Grail): Aragon
Titurel (a retired king of the Kingdom of the Grail, father to Amfortas): Elrond
Gurnemanz (an elderly knight of the Grail): Gandalf
Klingsor (an evil magician): Sauron
Kundry (woman sorcerer, a messenger of the Grail): Arwen, Saruman, Galadriel, Boromir, Gollum
Although the characters of Parsifal carry the resemblance with LoTR, the real similarity is undeniably between the Nibelungen Ring cycle (composed of 4 operas). Not only the story but the musical characteristics are also Wagnerian. Film composer Howard Shore, use the same idea of Wagner for the leitmotiv of The Ring. Quoted from Alex Ross;
"In the “Ring,” special importance attaches to the pairing of two minor triads separated by four half-steps—say, E minor and C minor. Conventional musical grammar says that these chords should keep their distance, but they make an eerie couple, having one note (G) in common. Wagner uses them to represent, among other things, the Tarnhelm, the ring’s companion device, which allows its user to assume any form. Tolkien’s ring, likewise, makes its bearer disappear, and Shore leans on those same spooky chords to suggest the shape-shifting process."3
As a personal note, what had been the Power of the Ring that time, is the emerging technologies, but probably the Artificial Intelligence ("...men were forging things over which they had no control, and which ended up controlling them."3). Which brings us to the next movie:
Matrix
In Parsifal, "Klingsor appears and casts the spear at Parsifal. Parsifal catches it in midair and makes the sign of the cross with it. Klingsor’s castle collapses in ruins, and the magic garden disappears. Parsifal departs victorious."
In Matrix, after Trinity's kiss, Neo can stop the bullets.
Resemblance of the characters of Parsifal to Matrix;
Parsifal (naïve hero, a youth): Neo
Amfortas (King of the Kingdom of the Grail): Morpheus
Titurel (a retired king of the Kingdom of the Grail, father to Amfortas): Morpheus
Gurnemanz (an elderly knight of the Grail): Morpheus
Klingsor (an evil magician): Matrix/AI/Agents
Kundry (woman sorcerer, a messenger of the Grail): Trinity
Film composer of all three Matrix film Don Davies also mentions that Wagner's influence on him in several film music compositions.
Star Wars
As a Trilogy itself, Star Wars has the resemblance of the music of Wagner, as well as the characters of Parsifal
Parsifal (naïve hero, a youth): Luke Skywalker
Amfortas (King of the Kingdom of the Grail):
Titurel (a retired king of the Kingdom of the Grail, father to Amfortas): Yoda
Gurnemanz (an elderly knight of the Grail): Obi van Kenobi
Klingsor (an evil magician): Darth Vader
Kundry (woman sorcerer, a messenger of the Grail):
Science Fiction Literature
There's a wonderful image in Philip K. Dick's book Valis where he pictures Wagner trying to get into heaven:
I can see Richard Wagner standing at the gates of heaven:
"You have to let me in," he says.
"I wrote Parsifal. It has to do with the Grail, Christ, suffering, pity and healing. Right?" and they answer,
"Well, we read it and it makes no sense." SLAM.
[Philip K Dick: Valis, Chapter 8]
For more information, the booklet and some references
Bonus : For a humoristic interpretation of Parsival's story, you may also check Monthy Python and the Holy Grail (1975) movie.
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