Minimal Index for Monsalvat.no

Concerning the Opera Parsifal and Related Literature

• Sitemap of monsalvat.no
• An introduction to Parsifal
• Parsifal synopsis and list of the main roles
• Parsifal libretto with English translation and Commentary
• Parsifal discography
• Articles and Notes
• Introduction to the Music of Parsifal
• Thematic Guide (Leitmotive and other musical elements)
• Parsifal bibliography

Other Wagnerian Essays and Notes

• Wagner's Life
• Everything you wanted to know about the Tristan Chord
• Tristan & Isolde: a program note and trigger warning
• Leitmotive and musical motives in the Ring
• A list of Leitmotive and other motives in the Ring
• The opera Tannhäuser is broken

The Story

When Parsifal first appears on stage, bursting in upon a placid but troubled religious community who have concealed themselves and their temple deep in a pathless forest, the boy has only recently left his mother. She has kept from him all knowledge of old age, sickness and death. Emerging from this sheltered childhood, not yet an adult, he does not know the distinction between good and evil. He does not even know his own name, who he is or what he is; although he vaguely remembers that he has had many names, all now forgotten. At this stage Parsifal's life lacks purpose; if he has had any goal or mission, then it has been forgotten. Subsequent events, both onstage and offstage, influence his moral and spiritual development, which Wagner describes in words and music. As the more insightful commentators have realized, Parsifal has an inner action which is distinct from the outer action. The inner action is internal to the title character: the impact of new experiences upon the mind of the spiritual hero. Whilst, in the outer action, Amfortas, Titurel and Kundry are independently-acting  characters, they also function as  symbols in the inner action, developing in the consciousness of Parsifal.

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