WAGNER
Wagner built his own opera house, Bayreuth, and this became the only place where Parsifal was played until 1903 (when it premiered in New York). Wagner's interest in Wolfram's tale coincides with a turn in his career toward more conservative views on politics and an increased interest in religion (not only Christianity, but Buddhism). For Wagner, Parsifal was a decidedly serious piece of art. Rather than call it an opera, he termed it a "festival play for the consecration of the stage."
Read a synopsis of the opera here.
As his career progressed, Wagner's aesthetics and politics became increasingly nationalistic (expressed most bitterly in the writing of his former disciple Friedrich Nietzsche). Parsifal is often cited as a turning point in his career. Over time, Wagner's nationalism, religiosity, and increasingly apparent anti-semitism made him a target to be co-opted by the Nazi movement. This appropriation is, of course, by no means a fair estimation of Wagner's career and of his influence on music and philosophy. Nonetheless, the ties between Wagner's interest in the Middle Ages and the Nazi's search for an authentic origin story should help us consider more carefully the ideological uses (and ethics) of the past, generally, and the allure of the Middle Ages as a site of origins, specifically.
Check out Hannah's page on Titurel for more!
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Assignment for Tuesday 4/5:
Below I've linked a full performance of the opera from 1981. Although the opera is in German, there are English subtitles.
The opera is very long-- I do not expect you to watch all of it. I would like you to try to watch an hour of the performance. The plot follows Wolfram fairly closely so, depending on what part of that text you found most interesting, try to watch a chunk that might reflect on some of the corresponding scenes. For many of you, this might be the first (and perhaps only opera) you'll watch, so let's try to make the most of it! Think of it as a sort of "slow looking" exercise. You know my angle on this stuff. Don't worry about following the narrative so exactly; instead, try to find things that interest you!
As you watch, keep these big picture questions in mind:
- How does Wagner alter Wolfram?
- What interesting consistencies between the two text can you observe?
- How does Wagner use the music to tell the story? (Remember, romance too is an oral art-- and was often sung!)
- Does Wagner's rendition help you see Wolfram's text any differently?
- Why do you think Wagner was interested in this story? How does he update the play?
1. Isolate scene/moments that stick out to you while you watch. Jot down quick notes as you watch.
2. After watching your hour chunk, pick one moment to concentrate on. Find the corresponding scene (or the closest you can find) in the text of Parzival.
3. Watch the scene again!
4. In your first paragraph, introduce the scene with with the time (i.e. 2:48-7:26) and corresponding page numbers in Parzival (2 sentences MAX). Then, carefully unpack how the scene unfolds in the opera. Cite as many details as possible. Concentrate especially on the visuals and the music. Don't worry about analysis at this point-- I just want to see your observations! Extract as much detail as you can!
5. In your second paragraph, compare the scene in the opera to the corresponding scene in the book. If there is no obvious parallel, pick a moment in the book that you think sets up a good contrast to the scene in the opera. Here's where you want to think about analysis. How do the similarities and differences guide your interpretation of what Wagner is trying to accomplish in his scene?
6. Post your two paragraphs below with your name.
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Nicole Schiro Magee. I am comparing the first encounters with Parzival of Wolfram’s Cundrie la sorciere in Book VI (pg. 132, par. 312) and Wagner’s Kundry in Act I (54:46 – 57:22.) The music in the scene is allegro, adding urgency to the events. At the top of the scene, when Kundry reveals Parzival’s identity, the music is agitato and sinister. The actress sings the lyrics with severity. Parzival’s descriptions of the knights he met, and his adventures in the forest immediately follow, and the music becomes staccato, which conjures the images of horses galloping. The quick change from agitato to staccato marks a contrast between the characters, evoking innocence in Parzival when compared with the harshness of Kundry. This contrast builds until the climactic moment when Parzival asks Kundry who fears him, and she answers “the wicked.” At this point Parzival asks, “Who is good?” Gurnamanz replies, “your mother.” The music softens, and becomes gentle and adagio and affettuoso, supporting the picture of goodness and grieving in Percival’s mother. The music, particularly the violins, immediately becomes furioso and accelerando when Kundry interrupts the moment pronouncing the death of Parzival’s mother. The violence of the violins underlies the physical altercation between Kundry and Parzival. When Gurnamanz breaks them apart and asks, “What has this woman done to you,” the music becomes adagio again through Percival’s fainting, and then becomes allegro when Kundry runs off. This gives the audience a clue to the dynamic between Percival and Kundry, and foreshadows their ongoing struggle. Overall the changes in pace and style support the character’s emotions, which conveys the volatile nature of this meeting. As for the visual elements of the scene, which in my opinion are lacking, the main thing that I latch onto is Kundry’s need to always return to the undergrowth of the forest, to lay and wallow in her weariness and wretched state. The designs, colors, and fabric textures of the costumes also suited the characters, and indicated status. For example, Gurnamanz’s blue robe gives the audience a visual reminder of his royalty. In contrast, the deep dark green and brown hues of Parzival and Kundry’s costumes stir up an earthy, i.e., salt of the earth feeling for me. The director could have used lighting more to indicate mood, and levels to indicate status, and to break up the monotony of three people singing at each other on stage for many, many minutes, but it my experience opera directors generally do not give attention to these kinds of details. Good theatre and musical theatre directors always take advantage of every element of the world onstage to tell the story in the most compelling way.
Wolfram’s Cundrie and Wagner’s Kundry are vastly different. In Wolfram Cundrie first comes to Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In Wagner, we first see her with Gurnamanz near the Grail Castle. In Wolfram, she is a wise, loyal messenger of the Grail. In Wagner, Gurnamanz describes her as a “dullard,” and there is question about where her loyalty lies: is she working for Klingsor? In Wolfram, she is wealthy and fashionable. In Wagner, she is a wretched “wild woman” and buries herself in leaves, and sleeps in the bed of the forest. Her message is different. In Wolfram, she curses Parzival for failing to fulfill his destiny and ask about the grail. In Wagner, she meets Parzival before he goes into the Grail Castle. Parzival’s is ignorant of his identity, and she reveals it. There are, however, consistencies in the characterizations. In both cases, she is a traveler and versed in Arabic. She is the bearer of truth, brings grief, and chastises Parzival for being a fool. Wolfram describes Cundrie’s message: “Her tidings brought grief to many people” (pg. 132, par. 312), and sums it up: “Her tidings were a bridge carrying grief over joy” (pg. 132, par. 313). In Wagner, Kundry brings grief to Parzival by bearing the news of the death of Parzival’s mother: “she grieves no more his mother is dead” (56:04). She then adds insult to injury by judging Parzival: “she bade me greet you fool” (56:15). Shortly thereafter Parzival faints and the scene ends. Both operate under a veiled purity. Wolfram’s Cundrie is physically unattractive. Wagner’s Kundry is a wild woman, but is fiercely devoted to the Fisher King. She proves her purity in her humility - she will not accept thanks for her devotion (27:00). It is through this consistency of veiled purity, and oddly, a common thread in Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, I have gained a better understanding of the key trait of both Cundrie and Kundry: purity. It seems that in the scene leading into this scene Parcival could have been inspiration for the character of Konstantin in Chekhov’s The Seagull. Wagner’s Parzival predates The Seagull by about eighteen years. Konstantin is in love with Nina, and when he kills an innocent seagull for no good reason the bird becomes symbolic of many things, mainly both Konstantin and Nina’s loss of innocence and purity. So in a roundabout way, because of my deep love of Chekhov, and through Chekhov’s parallel to Wagner, I came to have a much deeper understanding of Parzival and Kundry. Nicole Schiro Magee.