Parsifal, Act II

Classical Court

From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here.

Just finished Gergiev's Act II.
From a "sensual" POV, it was once again an absolute pleasure to wallow in the brass and string writing as played and recorded, with special mention for the sound, er... below middle C.
I'm sure Stravinsky was inspired just a bit by the opening scene in Klingsor's castle? The flower maidens and especially Kundry were suitably alluring and the suspension of the spear in mid air hit its mark and reminded me of young Siegfried's great moment with his sister, But:
I came to Parsifal for the first time decades ago, after having digested the ultra-lush and chromatically-grinding Valkyrie, Tristan and Gotterdammerung, (not to mention Schreker, R. Strauss & Co.) and the same question popped into my mind today as it did then: "why is Wagner's orchestral writing so restrained?"
We've got seductive flower maidens.... Then there's Kundry... (which some believe to originally be a male cult-Temple prostitute that Wagner didn't quite know how to sell to the general public, but just imagine all the great chord progressions!) any yet, the music IMHO is as relatively erotic as...Melba toast.
Why?

Edits: 08/09/20

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Topic - Parsifal, Act II - jdaniel@jps.net 15:19:46 08/09/20 (0)

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