Lyric’s Glorious NewVision of Wagner’s
Parsifal
Richard Wagner’s final opera achieves
something possible with only the greatest
works of art: as baritone Thomas Hampson
says, “it invigorates our inner life as
human beings.” The opera returns to
Lyric this season in a magnificent new
production by debuting director John
Caird, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
For general director Anthony Freud,
Parsifal is “one of the most alluring,
magically compelling scores ever
created. In many ways it’s Wagner’s
most beautiful and mysterious score,
compelling in its breadth, atmosphere,
and emotional impact. It can be enjoyed
purely as a narrative – a mystical,
mythical story of the knights of the Holy
Grail – but underlying it is a range of
complex theology that also offers endless
opportunities for thought and discussion.”
With a story taken from the medieval
poem Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach,
the opera transports us to Monsalvat,
the castle where, surrounded by a
brotherhood of devoted knights, Amfortas
(
Hampson) guards the Holy Grail. In the
castle’s forest a youth, Parsifal (tenor
Paul Groves), is apprehended for killing
a swan. Gurnemanz (bass Kwangchul
Youn/debut), a venerable knight, senses
that this may be the “pure fool” prophesied
as the savior of the physically and
emotionally wounded Amfortas. When the
brotherhood’s sacred rituals leave Parsifal
uncomprehending, Gurnemanz sends
him away. Parsifal finds himself in the
magic garden of Klingsor (baritone Tómas
Tómasson), a sorcerer previously rejected
for membership in the brotherhood.
Klingsor sends the mysterious, tortured
Kundry (mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas/
debut) to seduce Parsifal. When she kisses
him, he instantly understands Amfortas’s
suffering. Rejecting Kundry, he leaves to
wander the world. Years later he returns
to the Grail knights, mature and wise.
He baptizes Kundry, heals the wounded
Amfortas, and becomes the new guardian
of the Grail.
Those are the basic events, but what
is the opera really about? “For me,” says
Sir Andrew Davis, “it’s about community,
forgiveness, redemption – the ability that
people have to find grace.” The quality of
compassion is essential: according to the
prophecy, “made wise through compassion,
the pure fool” will heal Amfortas.
“
Compassion and redemption – one is
very dependent on the other,” notes Caird.
“
Parsifal’s redemption is entirely tied up
with whether or not he learns compassion.”
The piece may be awash with Christian
symbolism (elements of Buddhism enter
into it as well), but “Wagner’s essential
By Roger Pines
Parsifal
draws us into its
own universe, creating
its ownmesmerizing spell.
A World Of Its Own
Set design by Johan Engels
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