Post by Eva Yojimbo on Dec 19, 2017 1:48:41 GMT
To continue the discussion of religion in Wagner, I feel compelled to mention that most of Wagner's mature operas contain religious symbolism and/or references. Dutchman's character is a reference to the Wandering Jew. Tannhauser is obviously Pagan in nature (and, as I mentioned earlier, is basically the mirror image of Parsifal)*. Lohengrin's tale was originally included in von Eschenbach Parzival, and is a retelling of the classic religious fable of a god falling in love with a human. The religious symbols/references in The Ring are too numerous to mention, but they should be rather obvious. Only Tristan & Isolde and Die Meistersinger are relatively free of any religious element. So to single out Parsifal seems rather strange when it's clear that Wagner had a career-long obsession with religious-based stories, even if they were different elements of different religions.
*Just to elaborate on this, in both Tannhauser and Parsifal you have a character in conflict with two different worlds: the human and the mythical. In Tannhauser, the love (more lust) of the mythical world is the trap that pulls Tannhauser away from his devotions in the real world; while in Parsifal it's the love (more lust) in the human world that's the trap that tries to pull Parsifal away from the devotion of the mythical world. In Tannhauser it's the God (Venus) who's the temptress luring the hero away from the path of human righteousness, while in Parsifal it's the human/magician who's the tempter luring the hero away from the path of godly righteousness. Wagner merely swapped the "path of righteousness" and the world in which the tempter belonged to. You can even see this change as early as Tristan, in which the love of T&I is treated as divine, something itself in conflict with the world of human devotions; though in T&I Wagner is more sympathetic with both worlds (as rapturous as T&I's love duet is, King Marke's lament at Tristan's betrayal is one of the opera's most heartbreaking moments).
*Just to elaborate on this, in both Tannhauser and Parsifal you have a character in conflict with two different worlds: the human and the mythical. In Tannhauser, the love (more lust) of the mythical world is the trap that pulls Tannhauser away from his devotions in the real world; while in Parsifal it's the love (more lust) in the human world that's the trap that tries to pull Parsifal away from the devotion of the mythical world. In Tannhauser it's the God (Venus) who's the temptress luring the hero away from the path of human righteousness, while in Parsifal it's the human/magician who's the tempter luring the hero away from the path of godly righteousness. Wagner merely swapped the "path of righteousness" and the world in which the tempter belonged to. You can even see this change as early as Tristan, in which the love of T&I is treated as divine, something itself in conflict with the world of human devotions; though in T&I Wagner is more sympathetic with both worlds (as rapturous as T&I's love duet is, King Marke's lament at Tristan's betrayal is one of the opera's most heartbreaking moments).