Parsifal and Eroticism in Wagner's Music [1903]
2007; Oxford University Press; Volume: 22; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/oq/kbm001
ISSN1476-2870
Autores Tópico(s)Diversity and Impact of Dance
ResumoA trove of Germanness, a grail of the arts, the Festspielhaus (festival hall) rises on the Bayreuth hill. Built by Meister Wagner, the Festspielhaus, as we know, housed the first Festspiele in 1876. For six years, this temple of art closed its gates, to reopen again in 1882 for the debut performance of Parsifal. As its creator famously stipulated, Parsifal, the Meister's swan song, may only be performed in Bayreuth. As a result, this work is perhaps the least known of Richard Wagner's dramas. As a composer and poet, Wagner is at his artistic zenith in Parsifal, and the figures of this drama, perhaps more than those of all the other dramas, afford us deep insight into the instinctual life [Triebleben] of its creator. Here, in wise Gurnemanz, we reencounter that deep feeling for young, fresh manliness we previously encountered in King Heinrich, Hans Sachs, and King Mark: we see him consort with the young Grail attendants in tones of paternal friendship. His anger over Parsifal's killing of the swan subsides quickly: “He (Gurnemanz) gently drapes Parsifal's arm over his shoulder, and supports his body by clasping it with his own arm; in this way, he guides him with careful steps.”1 With soft words, he leads him up to the Grail castle.
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