The St. Louis Republic., 1903-10-25
PLANS FOR PRODUCTION
OF WAGNER'S "PARSIFAL." "
Opera Is Not Religions Work Many suppose said
Contain Exquisite MTscFrau Wagners Opposition
of Piece America.

trsuced gaze ~ Americans at the Metro
. politau Opera-huuse.
n"r urged against the production OF the
play WAS that 10 was sacred. II dealt. she
said. with holy subject. and 10 would h.
saoiileE- for Il 10 be produced anywhere
slN- In the place where IL had become a
religious feast To produce this compost
ton before ala American audience in an
ordinary upeTa-hUuse. instead OF temple.
would b- like the setting zap u! the ahDm-
iuatiDu Of d-SolIiiDu ia the holy of holi-S
FRAU wAGNER'S PLEA
1t Is 1u artistic passion play. a devo-
tiuu5l music feast. more sacred than an
urItoTio. auI more d-vout shan q high
mass she cried. only in Bayreuth.
where the Wagner temple Of music will
surround b with that respect and sauctity
that it, subject and treatment deserve
can Il h- given properly"
To those who know the history OF Frau
Wagner. this argument sounds with some
thing UT q humorous tang. The former
wife of Hans yon Buslow. who was born
anu raised Catholic. ami who changed
her religiou ia order that she might So
cure 4 divorce that would enable her 20
marry Richard Wagner, could surely not
have such deep feeling on religious sub
jeCts as her words would imply.
But. ito return 10 ''Parsifal." The plea
that II b. religious opera T. wrong. That
Il has a religious tone i true hut IL j. q To-
mantle music drama. HS truly as Faust
deserves that tltir. Though not so senu-
mental is 'Lohengrin." II closely reS-m-
bleS that play IN tone and colorinE.
But dS an opera 70 has this one great de-
f'yt. IL j. without the eNaltatiCu uf great
human love In the place OF love j. placed
sensual temptation. There is not a singie
good woman presented in the whole course
II the opera. Poor Marguerite was d saint
I'm heaven compared with Kundry. whose
uEly Justification l. that she WaS en-
Chanted and did her work under a spell.
Il u
Chauted and Trpeutant.
To BE- brief. the story OF this drama i
one that could hardly be told in full In
mixed society. and its gTayest artistic in
teTest. and human interest. too. i derived
from this very fact. But let Us remember
that Wagner was never very Interesting
when he Was treating NJ good and virtu-
Gus subjects Let those who dorbt listen
to the TRADES that old Wotan's wife gives
him for the extent OF thirty or forty min
utes in the Nibelungen TrilOgy.
FATHER OF LOHENGRIN.
Those who remember their 'Lohengrin'
will recall that just as the Silver King is
about to depart in his swan boat. he tells
Door Elsa who was, after all very human
in her curiosity. that
Nv fath@- PasSlfaI a. King IS crowned.
His knight aEa land Loh-ngrin my name
Parsifal wss the father OF Lohengrin.
and as his character appears many times
In literature. he = not unfamiliar to the
students OF ancient Galic manuscripts
ChretienS a.. Troyes tells OF him ia Per,
Cival le Ga!ois. OF CUnteS tie Grail. and
Wolfram Won Escheubach also tells his
story in ''Parsifal.' The character again
appears in the MabinOgian manuscript. In
each of theS- the knight IS made to appear
as thc persuuificatiOn Of Christian virtues
battling against uaCaEiSm.
According 10 the Wagner version of the
story. which IL q modification Of all OF
these the Holy Grail Was the vessel IN
which Christ poured the wine and blessed
90 at the last supper. when he instituted
The holy sacrament. This vessel. win the
very spear that LonsinuS had used 10
pierce IN, side OF the Savior. when he was
on the cross. were given To Ttturel after
the death uf Christ, and this knight anu
his associates were made the protectors
and guardians OF IN, ~. inoy had maSlS
powers. and the king uf the knights OF the
Grail was always TO use the spear 10
guard the holy vessel
APPEARANCE OF KLINGSOR.
Everything went well until Amfortas be
came King Then. under his jurisdiction,
knight named KIinssor appeared before
him and asked 10 be permitted to join the
order. But klinGsurs NE had been an
evil one aud for nis personal impurity he
was cast out Of the GrdilsbuTg. As he
had mutilated himself 50 as to be free
from worldly desires his rage at being re-
pulsed knew mo- bounds. lie Swore TO be
Tev,ngsd on the kn'Ehthood; He erected
a magic palace on the Southefn Slope ot
the mountain. IN his garden he placed
beautiful women 10 tempt the Knights OF
the Grail MS they passed by. The most
beautiful OF these kundry, sort OF ie-
Wagner makes her the woman VINO
laughed in the face of Christ while he was
on his way TO Calvary. but other Tadl-
tiuns declare that she - no Other tuan
Herodias. who nimbly danced on the head
% Juhr the Baptist
charms and while he Is IN the embrace Of
the beautiful enchautress klinEsor
snatchcs the spear and wounds the King
OF GrailsbUTE. i Is ErieNous wound. tor
d can never be cured until II Is toucheu
by the spear itself. and this can only be
recovered by der Itine thor, or M
guileleSs fool who. IN the Wasnerian
opera. is Parsifal himself
An OF this occurs before the curtain
rises. and is necessary TO understand the
meaning q the story that toilows- Inc
opening scene shows GuruemanZ, hale
and sturdy knight OF the Grail. attended
hy two esquires. Trumpets sound ana
tells his companions to pre-
pare the bath for the King AmfortaS- Just
a. they go on there Is Wild clangor IN
the orchestra and a horse bearing a wild
human rider. in snake-girdled garment
m Is Kundrv who in the times when she
IS OF duty at KlingsOI,s magic garden Is
permitted to serve the knights OF the Grail
a. a faithful servant she mas Just re-
will cure the King But Amfortas. borne
down BY the weight OF ms ms ;ha, sln and .,i,s tne
from the Grail has told him that he must
await as his SAVIOR: BY pity enlightened.
a guileless fool: wait for him, my chosen
tool
wHIZz OF ARROW.
The procession moves on to the lake.
and the whizz Of an arrow IS heard A
wounded swan iutters across the lake and
falls dying. The Parsifal motive an
nOunces the appearance OF the culprit.
who has ruthleSsly killed one OF these