The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-27
PARSIFAL.


PARSIFAL.
The sensation of the day in New York
is the production of Wagner's operate
masterpiece, "Parsifal" at the Metro
politan Opera House. This is the first
time it has ever been produced out
side the Bavarian village of Bayreuth,
a village that centers in and lives upon
Wagner music and traditions. In Bay
reuth a theater has been especially con-
structed for the production of Wagner
operas, and annually thousands of tour
lists journey there to see the "Parsi-
fall" just as they go to Oberammergau
to see the Passion Play" The New
York production of "Parsifar is said to
over-reach the Bavarian rendition in
point of magniacence and perfection of
detail For elaborateness it is said to
go ahead of anything of the kind pre-
viously attempted in this country. And
from the artistic point of view, the
critics say that a triumph has been
achieved. The actor-singers that take
part in the opera are leaders in their
profession.
Nevertheless a storm of criticism,
both friendly and unfriendly. has at
tended the transplanting of the opera
on American soil, and the publicity
the advertising-thus acquired has I'M
questionably led to the filing of the
opera house with spectators who paid
fancy prices for admission and seats.
First Frau Wagner objected to the pro-
duction of the opera in the United
States on the ground that it would be
a PROCLAMATION of the composition to
bring it to the land of dollars" for
purposes of profit, and she did what
she could to prevent it. Then certain
ministers of the gospel attacked the
opera, on the ground that it was sac
religious. Prominent among these is
DR.. Parkhurst, who declared the whole
thing to be stupid sacrilege." 1T
would weary heathen," he said, while
to Christian it is disgraceful. There
is in the play not only the Lords Sup
per, but there is baptism and the STACEY
affectation of prayer" To put such
things on the stage, for the delectation
or amusement of persons paying a GER
he holds to be trifling with holy things.
On the other hand, Rev. Newell Dwight
Hills, another eminent New York
clergyman, who occupies the pulpit of
Henry Ward Beecher, finds in "Parsi-
fal" only that which is ennobling and
good. Its sweetness, he says, is dis
titled out of purity. holiness and i'm
nd he
too grateful to the genius that evolved
it. "Parsifal" has been described as
the attempt to tell the epic of mans
soul in music. If it is to be con-
demned, then must the "Idyls of the
King" of Tennyson, be likwise con-
demned, according to DR.. Hills. They
are along similar lines; their heroes
and heroines are people of like ambi-
tions, temperaments and fortunes.
The story of "Parsifal," the hero
of the opera, has been made fairly
familiar to newspaper readers during
the past few weeks by the publication
of sketches of the opera. Like Sir Gal
ahad, he is a knight without fear and
without reproach. He is beset with
temptations of the most seductive sorts,
but his purity of heart is invulnerable
and he energies from them all unsul-
lied and immaculate. The underlying
lesson is the glorification of purity, as
in all morality plays" The "Resur-
rection" is a play of this kind; so
is "Everyman." At times the lesson
taught by them becomes gruesome in
the extreme, but at the end the moral
is as plain as sunlight. 1t may, in a
measure, be the same with "Parsifal."
1t may invade precincts that are held
| to be sacred. Whether it does this in
a spirit that is proper and permissible,
or otherwise, is a matter of opinion
that the critics are divided on, as we
have noted. But that it is a magnifi-
cent stage picture, accompanied by
tiresomely long opera that sometimes
quivers with brilliant melody, seems
| to be conceded.