Volume 21, Number 17 · October 31, 1974
Parsifal: The Worship of Wagnerism
By Robert Craft
Parsifal
Metropolitan Opera production, conducted by Georg Solti, with René Kollo, by Gottlob Frick, by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, by Christa Ludwig, by Zoltan Kélémén, by Hans Hotter
London Records, $34.98 (5 record set)
Parsifal, Volume 14 (score)
edited by Martin Beck, by Egon Voxx
B. Schott's Söhne (Mainz), 898 pp., Act III $60
Parsifal, Volume 30 (documents) of the Sämtliche Werke (Complete Works) of Richard Wagner
edited by Martin Beck, by Egon Voxx
B. Schott's Söhne (Mainz), 260 pp., $37.50
The Metropolitan's Parsifal (1974 season), the recent release of a superior recording of the opera, and the publication of a monumental critical edition of the score provoke re-examination of a masterpiece whose music is ever more highly regarded even as a wider audience is beginning to understand that the drama's underlying philosophy is truly repugnant.[1] In no sense is Parsifal a decline; on the contrary, Wagner's musical powers are at their pinnacle. The importance of stage action is reduced, but the musical rendering of the drama is more self-sufficient than ever before—of necessity, given the large part played by transformations that are uniquely within the power of music to express.
Review, 3288 words
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