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Post by general313 on Dec 16, 2017 21:47:04 GMT
I find the music of Parsifal breathtakingly beautiful, right there at the top of Wagner's output. It's the drama that doesn't really grab me, too religious. Storywise I prefer the pagan operas like the Ring and Tristan und Isolde. For me Parsifal is best enjoyed by listening to audio only recordings.Parsifal isn't religious, it just liberally utilizes religious symbolism (not unlike my beloved Neon Genesis Evangelion). It was probably Wagner's most coherent representation of the philosophy he adopted from Schopenhauer. Wagner himself had the most enlightening comment on his views of religion and art: "When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are actually figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain." It's a very Blakean/Jungian/Stevensian perspective. Really, Tannhauser and Parsifal are philosophical mirrors of each other. If you want to see a visually interesting Parsifal, try Syberberg's film. It is a movie rather than a stage performance, but it's definitely fascinating and provocative visually. I don't see how a work that "liberally utilizes religious symbolism" can be seen as non-religious. It could be argued to be an unorthodox interpretation with its blending of Christianity and Buddhism, but it still is a heavy handed and preachy narrative. The Guardian has an interesting article on this: The Parsifal Problem
I have a copy of the Syberberg film, which I do like overall even though some of the acting is a bit lame, and I'm not really a fan of the middle act actor substitution of Parsifal. |
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