Parsifal is anopera in three acts byRichard Wagner. Wagner took most of the story from amedieval poemParzival by theGermanpoetWolfram von Eschenbach. It was the last opera that Wagner completed. He started thinking about it in1857 but did not do much work to it until after he had finished the cycle of four operas known as theRing Cycle which was produced complete in1876 in the special theatre (Festspielhaus) he had built inBayreuth. Wagner composed his operaParsifal so that it would suit the sound of this new theatre. It was first produced in1882. The story is related to theArthurian legends.
Wagner did more than any other composer in the19th century to change the way that people listened to opera. In the18th century people went to the opera house and sat in their boxes to chat to other people and be seen. Composers wrote operas with bigarias which allowed the singers to show off their skills and make the audience applaud.
Wagner changed all this. He soon developed operas in which there is no difference betweenrecitative (where the story is told) and arias (big songs for the soloists). The music of his later operas, especiallyParsifal, is like a long, continuous line with rich, Romanticharmony. The music develops logically, withleitmotifs (very short pieces of music which represent particular people or ideas) which help the music and the story to develop.
The story ofParsifal and the Holy Grail has survived in several forms that date from between1170 and1220. Wagner, who always wrote the words of his operas himself, used a mixture of several of these versions of the story to fit his ideas for the opera. Parsifal is a young man who is a “pure fool”, which means that he is aninnocent, good man who slowly starts to understand the world. The Holy Grail is the cup from whichJesus Christ is supposed to have drunk at theLast Supper. The Holy Spear is the spear which is supposed to have been the one with which theRomansoldier pierced Jesus’ side when he was put on thecross. The Holy Grail and the Holy Spear aresacred relics (things from the past) which have been given to Titurel and his band ofChristianknights to look after. Titurel has built acastle, Montsalvat, high up on the forest rocks, to guard them. In particular, he has to watch out for Klingsor who lives nearby. Klingsor is amagician who has a garden full of beautiful flower-maidens. These maidens are in his power. One of them is Kundry. She has already been made tolure several young knights to Klingsor’s power. Even Titurel’s son, Amfortas, could not resist the lure of Kundry. His spear was taken from him and he was badly wounded before being rescued. At the beginning of the opera he is lying in pain. The only thing that could heal the wound would be the touch of the Holy Spear which Klingsor now has, and the only person who could get that spear back again is a “pure fool”, a young man who knows nothing about the evil of the world and who can resist the beauty of the flower-maidens.
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The opera starts with an orchestralprelude (Wagner does not call it an “overture”). When the curtain rises Gurnemanz, one of the senior knights, wakes up two sleeping servants. They kneel andpray as King Amfortas is brought down on his bed to the forestlake to bathe hiswound. Kundry arrives, dashing in on herhorse, looking for something to heal the wound (when Kundry is away from Klingsor she is not in his power. She feels that it was her fault that Amfortas was wounded. When Kundry is not in Klingsor’s power she is actually a faithful messenger of the Grail).
Suddenly a woundedswan (a bird that is sacred to the knights of the Grail) falls dead at Gurnemanz’s feet. The swan had been killed by Parsifal. He did not know that it was a wrong thing to do, but when the knights capture him he realizes hisguilt and he breaks thearrow. The knights ask him his name, but Parsifal says he does not know his name or where he comes from. Suddenly the knights realize that Parsifal is the pure fool they need who can capture the Holy Spear.
The scene changes. The knights takecommunion. Amfortas is in terrible pain but has to do his duty in the ceremony. When the Holy Grail is shown it sparkles brightly in the hall. The knights sink to their knees. Only Parsifal does not seem to understand the meaning of it all.
The scene is Klingsor’s magic garden by his castle. Kundry has been summoned by him is now quite different: she has no power of her own, and is controlled and tormented by Klingsor. Klingsor notices Parsifal, whom he is expecting, approach from the distance, and sends his magical knights to fight him, expecting them to be defeated by Parsifal. The flower-maidens, the wives of the knights, see Parsifal and call him by his name. No one has ever called him by his name before. When one of them kisses his lips he suddenly realizes what it is he has to do. He now remembers everything that has happened in Act I and understands its meaning. He throws the maiden to one side. Klingsor appears and throws the spear at Parsifal, but magically it stops over Parsifal’s head. Parsifal grabs it and makes the sign of the cross. The castle is destroyed, the gardens disappear, and he goes off back to the Grail.
After a journey which takes him many years Parsifal comes back to the Grail forest. Gurnemanz is now very old. Kundry works for the knights. Parsifal himself is dressed as a black knight. Kundry recognizes him, but Gurnemanz does not. He is annoyed that an armed stranger should come on this holy day (it isGood Friday). Parsifal throws the spear into the ground, puts down his weapons and takes off hishelmet. Gurnemanz realizes who it is. He helps him to dress like a knight of the Grail. Kundry washes his feet and dries them with her longhair. Gurnemanz blesses Parsifal’shead. Parsifal is now a knight of the Grail, and hebaptizes Kundry. Titurel has just died, and Amfortas, still in terrible pain, comes out to uncover the Grail. Parsifal enters and touches the wound with the point of the spear. Amfortas’s pain changes to happiness, theshrine is opened, the Grail is surrounded by light. The knights kneel down, Kundry dies peacefully. All is forgiven. The music finishes with a climax based on the leitmotifs of the Holy Grail and theSacrament.
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Until 1903, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus was the only place where Wagner’s operaParsifal was allowed to be performed. In 1903, the opera was performed at theMetropolitan Opera inNew York. Soon, it was being performed in other places as well.
Wagner like to describeParsifal as "ein Bühnenweihfestspiel" ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage"). At Bayreuth, it has become tradition that there is to be no applause after the first act of the opera.
The conductor of the first performance wasHermann Levi, the court conductor at theMunich Opera. Wagner objected to Parsifal being conducted by a Jew (Levi's father was in fact arabbi). Wagner first suggested that Levi should convert to Christianity, which Levi declined to do.[1] Wagner then wrote to King Ludwig that he had decided to accept Levi. This despite the fact that (he alleged) he had received complaints that "of all pieces, this most Christian of works" should be conducted by a Jew. The King expressed his satisfaction at this. He said that "human beings are basically all brothers". Wagner wrote to the King that he "regard[ed] the Jewish race as the born enemy of pure humanity and everything noble about it".[2]
