The sun., 1903-12-25

THE WOMAN OF THE WORK.
Kundrp, the only woman in the play
is an IN made muddle of inhumanity, who
never commands single instant OF sym
pathv She strives by service to atone for
her sins, which are committed under the
smell OF Khngsor. She has neither love
nor passion. Gurnemdnz the aged Khigh1'
il a wearisome talker, He tells the story
OF his life or any one else's lie TO whom-
soever will listen The audience cannot
escape.
with the exception of Klingsor and his
afower girls'-a charming euphemlsm-
these puppets are shown to us in the first
scene. in which the necessary explanations
are made in long winded speeches, mostly
by GurnemdnS, seated on rock ana re-
citing like weary Woiun in Act II, OF Die
Walktire.7 When this old graphophone
comes to lead Parsitdi to the castle Of the
Grail. Wagner sorts over his old plans ana
speci6cations and selects Siegfried's Rhine
Journey.
But this time it is n sedate and pious
progress finishing with bellsand chorals But
il is one Of the fine spots in the work When
the bells are in tune, it Is imposing Last
night the bells spoke honestly. The scenery
changed in an ingenious and effective pano-
rama.
Then comes the crown Of the act, and the
noblest scene in the work, the unveiling
Of the Grail and the ceremony OF the Last
Supper. This is not the time for discus
sion of the propriety Of putting such matters
on the stage. Suffice it to say that here
Wagner has accomplished one OF the most
triumphant demons trations of the majesty
g ; - tri1 itlr
to the drama. Music, text, action, scenic
form and color all work together in an
irresistibly potent symphony Of symbolism,
which no reverent man can hear and see
without emotion. 1t makes "Parsifal'
almost persuasive
MELopRAMA INTRUDEs ON ART.
The second act opens with the exhibition
Of Khngsor as already noted, He is as
unreal as the purple light which ilumines
Kundry when he summons her from the
trapdoor in the stage. She rises like
Mother r-d1 in "Siegfried," Act Ill, but
oh, 80 different! Away with such cheap
and paltry claptrap as this scene! Poor
Wagner he had TO write it to explain himself;
and in "Parsifal" he needed lot Of explana-
ton. Not all the Ellises nor Wolzogens
in the world could blot out the DrIry Lane
stain of this one scene. Even the eIclamn-
tory "Ha, hal" of the old stage villain isnot
spared us.
The second scene Of the act Is the magic
garden OF flower maidens. Venusberg, No.
2. No. is much better. both dramatically
and muscally. This one is -Tannhaeuser'
and water, and very poor water at that.
Yet 1t is the scene which will please the pop
ulace most. because the flower girls are
pretty and graceful, and their music is
hnguorous and suggestive Of Leo Delibes
raised to the seventh powar.
But there is nothing human in this whole
scene Kundry. unlike Venus, does not
love the man she tempts. Venus is at the
bottom a passionate. despairing woman.
Kundry Is the deputed and bewitohed in
strument Of Wahnfried Cagliostro, Her
act is that Of woman OF the street. Her
only excuse is that she does not know what
she is doing
She Is in trance. We see her put In 1t,
and We see her come out OF it. And she is
transformed by the power Of the master
juggler from a rough creature with tangled
black locks to a beautiful blonde in a di-
aphanous decollete gown.
The symbolism Of the whole scene is
weak and unconvincins. And the logic Of
the enlightenment of Pdrsifal by the long
kiss with string accompaniment (see .Sieg-
fried" Act III.) is beyond all conception.
The symbolism Of the waking Of sleeping
maiden by the first kiss Of love is something
that even q society lady can gather. But
the employment Of a courtesan's salute to
enlighten pure fool by pity is something
that passes understanding
LAST ACT MOSTLY TEDIOUS.
The last aot is simply tedious, except in
spots. Gurnemdnz gets more opportunities
to lecture on Amfortds and Good Friday
and other topics, but even with the aid of
Wagner's own musical illustrations he is
uninteresting. The foot washing is a
pitiable and shocking plagiarism from the
life Of Christ. The picture with its central
figure, bearded, long haired, and white
robed, like the Shepherd of the paintings,
Ia too suggestive of the original And 1t is
all so inessential. 1t is dragged in to help
Justify the title Sacred festival play
Tho really beautiful places in the first
scene are the splendid proclamation of
the Grail theme after the baptism of Kundry
one Of those few bursts which recall the
Wagner of "Die Walkure"-and the
ineIably lovely peacefulness of the Good
Friday music. This, indeed, is an inspired
page in Wagners score. But it was written
TWENTY-FIVE years before the drama was
produced. 1t was the first of the -Parsifal"
score.
But, on the whole, the score is almost
one long, faint echo of Wagner's greater
works. Siegfried vainly strives to animate
this Parsifalian puppet Of renuncation
with the blood OF his themes. Cloudike
shreds of Tristan und Isolde struggle TO
put sunset tints on this pallid sky. All is
copying, futile, without Inspiration, with
out novelty-a hotch-potch of the old
marketable materials, made over with
constructive skill, but without sincerity
There is hardly a note of honest, artistic
conviction in the whole thing. One is in
clined TO think that Wagner would not have
believed in 1t himself.
The finSl scene s a weak and diluted
repetition of the second scene of the first
act. This time Parsifdl unveils the Grail.
The music is Of necessity built of the same
materials 1t does not achieve its effect
this time. Neither is the pictorial i'm
preston as deep We have seen it all
before.
As THE WORLD WILL JUDGE THB WORK
These, then, are the first hasty conclu-
sions caught from a public performance
in a common opera house of Wagner's re-
leious, symbolicaL ethical, philosophical
and gilded summary of his artistic creed
When this work is played in Bayreuth
where churchly airs are assumed and
people ga rib their spirits in sackCloth and