"Seeking his wife he flew up --
to circle with him over the lake
and gloriously to hallow them both."
-- Gurnemanz, deep into Scene 1 of Act I of Parsifal
[We hear first Donald McIntyre, with Reginald Goodall conducting (in 1984), then Hans Hotter, with Hans Knappertsbusch (in 1962). We'll be hearing a bit more of these performances later in the post. Sorry the second clip is so conspicuously louder; I don't know how to adjust that.]
__ __ __ __ __
GURNEMANZ: A blessed radiance emanated from the Grail;
a holy vision clearly spoke to him [i.e., Amfortas]
this message in words of fire:
"Made wise through empathy, the pure fool;
await him, the one I have chosen."
ESQUIRES: "Made wise through empathy, the pure fool --"
Ludwig Weber (bs), Gurnemanz; Elisabeth Rutgers (s), Sieglinde Wagner (ms), Erich Majkut (t), and Hermann Gallos (t), Esquires; Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Moralt, cond. Myto, live concert performance, [Oct. 1?] 1948
Franz Crass (bs), Gurnemanz; Elisabeth Schwarzenberg (s), Sieglinde Wagner (ms), R. A. Hartmann-Griffke (t), and Heinz Zednik (t), Esquires; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Eugen Jochum, cond. Live performance, July 24, 1971
Kurt Moll (bs), Gurnemanz; Regina Marheineke (s), Claudia Hellmann (ms), Helmut Holzapfel (t), and Karl-Heinz Eichler (t), Esquires; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. Recorded for broadcast, May 1980
Kurt Moll (bs), Gurnemanz; Heidi Grant Murphy (s), Jane Bunnell (ms), Paul Groves (t), and Anthony Laciura (t), Esquires; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine, cond. DG, recorded 1991-92
Cesare Siepi (bs), Gurnemanz; Loretta Di Franco (s), Ivanka Myhal (ms), Leo Goeke (t), and Robert Schmorr (t), Esquires; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Leopold Ludwig, cond. Live performance, Apr. 3, 1971
by Ken
We'll come back to the very first morsel we heard above, regarding the murdered swan's flight. The bit we just heard immediately above precedes the chunk we heard last week in the second of our pair of post "teases" ("Two case studies in ignorance -- Siegfried and Parsifal" and "Tease 2: Case studies in ignorance -- Siegfried and Parsifal (continued)," from the later stage of the first scene of Act I of Parisal but as part of a larger chunk of this scene from the later stages of the first of the two scenes of Act I of Parsifal. For all the difficulty I've had figuring out how to proceed from those teases, not to mention the amount of menial labor that will go into executing the provisional new roadmap, there was never any question that one thing we would need to do is to backup into this earlier part of the scene, and shortly we're going to hear a fuller context for these crucial lines.
I also realized that I needed to make clearer that labeling Siegfried and Parsifal as "ignorant" isn't meant as any kind of judgment but merely as a statement of fact -- both of our heroes have come to strapping young-manhood without any significant opportunity to learn the basics of life most of us take for granted, learning them as we do from a combination of normal socialization and instruction.
BEFORE WE PROCEED, LET'S HEAR A LITTLE MUSIC
TO HELP GET US INTO A "PARSIFAL FRAME OF MIND"
On this initial pass at this post, the most we'll be able to do is set out the bare bones, to be filled in tonight and tomorrow with more performances, better context, and more comment. And I do think it'll help if we use the pairing of the Prelude to Act I and the "Good Friday Spell" from Act III to orient ears and brains to the Parsifal sound world. The Jochum recording we've heard before; I don't believe we've heard the Bruno Walter one.
Parsifal: Prelude (Act I) and "Good Friday Spell" (Act III)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eugen Jochum, cond. DG, recorded December 1957
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, cond. Columbia-CBS-Sony, recorded Feb. 25, 1959
ANOTHER THING I DIDN'T DO LAST WEEK . . .
. . . was any kind of comment or even spotlighting of portions of the 7½-minute chunk we heard last week. We're going to listen to that chunk again (and maybe in time add an alternate performance or two or three), but first I thought we should at least listen separately to this bit, as the normally ever-so-patient and even-tempered Gurnemanz is driven to rage by the unthinking Parsifal's shooting of the swan. In particular the section, after that arresting harmonic modulation, where Gurnemanz conjures the image of the beautiful swan seeking out its mate and with her circling the lake, some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard.
GURNEMANZ [to PARSIFAL, confessed swan-shooter]:
Did not the woodland beasts tamely come near
and innocently greet you as friends?
What did the birds sing to you from the branches?
What harm did that faithful swan do you?
Seeking his wife he flew up --
to circle with him over the lake
and gloriously to hallow the both.
This did not impress you? It but tempted you
to a wild, childish shot from your bow?
He was pleasing to us; what is he now to you?
Here -- look! -- here you struck him,
the blood still congealing, the wings drooping lifeless,
the snowy plumage stained dark,
the eyes glazed -- do you see his look?
[PARSIFAL has followed GURNEMANZ with growing emotion; now he breaks his bow and hurls his arrows away.]
Ludwig Weber (bs), Gurnemanz; Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Moralt, cond. Myto, live concert performance, [Oct. 1?] 1948
Donald McIntyre (bs-b), Gurnemanz; Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI, recorded June 1984
NOW LET'S LISTEN TO THIS AGAIN IN CONTEXT
(with some quick performance notes about our Gurnemanzes)
In other words, what we heard last week, including the two performances we heard then, along with two more, which are the sources of the haunting lines of Gurnemanz's, recollecting the swan's graceful flight over the lake with his mate with which the revised version of this post opened. Even in this brief excerpt I think we can hear the searching eloquence of the deepest-probing Parsifal conductors on records, Hans Knappertsbusch and Reginald Goodall -- and a potent degree of eloquence from their Gurnemanzes, Hans Hotter and Donald McIntyre. Let's listen first, and I'll have something to say afterwards.
Parsifal: Act I, from Gurnemanz,
"Bist du's, der diesen Schwan erlegte?"
Daybreak. Gurnemanz (elderly but vigorous) and two youthful esquires are lying asleep under a tree. From the left, as if from the castle, sounds a solemn reveille on trombones.
GURNEMANZ: Are you the one who killed this swan?
PARSIFAL: Indeed! Whatever flies I can hit in flight!
GURNEMANZ: You did this? And you're not worried by this deed?
ESQUIRES and KNIGHTS: Punish the offender!
GURNEMANZ: Unheard-of act!
You could murder, here in the holy forest,
where tranquil peace surrounded you?
Did not the woodland beasts tamely come near
and innocently greet you as friends?
What did the birds sing to you from the branches?
What harm did that faithful swan do you?
Seeking his mate, he flew up
to circle with him over the lake
and gloriously to hallow the both.
This did not impress you? It but tempted you
to a wild, childish shot from your bow?
He was pleasing to us; what is he now to you?
Here -- look! -- here you struck him,
the blood still congealing, the wings drooping lifeless,
the snowy plumage stained dark,
the eyes glazed -- do you see his look?
[PARSIFAL has followed GURNEMANZ with growing emotion; now he breaks his bow and hurls his arrows away.]
Now do you appreciate your misdeed?
[PARSIFAL passes his hand over his eyes.]
Say, boy, do you realize your great guilt?
How could you commit this crime?
PARSIFAL: I didn't know.
GURNEMANZ: Where are you from?
PARSIFAL: That I don't know.
GURNEMANZ: Who is your father?
PARSIFAL: That I don't know.
GURNEMANZ: Who sent you this way?
PARSIFAL: That I don't know.
GURNEMANZ: Your name then?
PARSIFAL: I had money,
but I don't know them anymore.
GURNEMANZ: You know nothing of anything?
[aside] Such a dullard
I have never found before save Kundry.
[to the ESQUIRES, who have assembled in increasing numbers]
Now go!
Do not neglect the king in the bath! -- Help!
[The ESQUIRES reverently lift the dead swan onto a bier of fresh branches and move away with it toward the lake. At length only GURNEMANZ, PARSIFAL, and -- apart -- KUNDRY remain behind. GURNEMANZ turns back to PARSIFAL.]
Now say! You know nothing I ask you:
tell me what you do know,
for you must surely know something.
PARSIFAL: I have a mother. Her name is Herzeleide [Heart's Suffering].
The woods and wild moors were our home.
GURNEMANZ: Who gave you the bow?
PARSIFAL: I made it myself
to score the savage eagles from the forest.
GURNEMANZ: But you yourself seem eagle-like and nobly born.
Why did your mother not let you
learn to use better weapons?
-- translation (almost but not quite entirely) by Lionel Salter
Gottlob Frick (bs), Gurnemanz; René Kollo (t), Parsifal; members of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded 1971-72
Gottlob Frick (bs), Gurnemanz; Karl Liebl (t), Parsifal; Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Rudolf Kempe, cond. Live performance, June 16, 1959
Donald McIntrye (bs-b), Gurnemanz; Warren Ellsworth (t), Parsifal; Welsh National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI, recorded June 1984
Hans Hotter (bs-b), Gurnemanz; Jess Thomas (t), Parsifal; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch, cond. Philips, recorded live, July-Aug. 1962
As I've mentioned previously, McIntyre's Gurnemanz came as a wonderful surprise for me. If you listen for it, you can recognize that it's the same voice that battled so frequently and so valiantly but so much less sympathetically against the higher-centered vocal lie of Wagner's Heldenbariton roles (the difference between them and his bass roles is really more where the writing "sits" than the overall range called for); as Gurnemanz he really sounds like a different artist. In Parsifal he had sung both baritone roles, Klingsor and Amfortas, and we have recordings of both -- neither anywhere near as effective as his Gurnemanz.
Coincidentally (or maybe not), if one looks at the way Hotter was cast in his fairly quickly fading Met career in the early '50s, one can get the impression that Rudolf Bing was thinking similar thoughts about him: that if he was going to be of continuing use to the company, it might more likely be in bass rather than baritone roles -- Gurnemanz, say, rather than Amfortas, and Hunding rather than Wotan -- a notion about which the singer and the general manager perhaps agreed to disagree. In any case, his 1962 Gurnemanz with Knappertsbusch still seems to me a solid attraction of what for me remains among the great opera recordings.
Against my better judgment I've glanced at a bunch of online comments about Parsifal recordings in which much trash talk can be found regarding this Hotter performance, which leaves me feeling kind of turned around here, since usually I'm the one who can be counted on to gripe about what passes for so often passes for singing in Wagner baritone and bass roles, and while it's easy to imagine more beautiful singing of Gurnemanz's music (I think we're hearing a nice assortment of it today, from an interesting assortment of singers, whose virtues seem to me plain enough not to call for much comment from me), I still love this performance of one of the most deeply sympathetic roles in the operatic repertory.
A FULLER VERSION OF THE "DURCH MITLEID WISSEND"
SECTION, UP TO GURNEMANZ CONFRONTING PARSIFAL
We're going back to the point in Gurnemanz's scene with the esquires, to the main body of his narration, which began at "Titurel, der fromme Held, der kannte ihn wohl" ("Titurel the pious hero, he knew him [i.e., Klingsor] well"), after the bratty youngsters, who didn't seem riveted by tales of boring old Titurel, perked up at mention of the supervillain Klingsor, and kept asking, with incredulousness as well as some genuine excitement, "You knew Klingsor?" Instead of answering directly, you'll note, Gurnemanz switched the subject right back to Titurel, the one who really knew Klingsor.
Parsifal: Act I, Gurnemanz, "Da Titurel, in hohen Alters Mühen" connecting to our earlier Gurnemanz-Parsifal scene excerpt
In the domain of the Grail: Forest, shady and solemn but not gloomy. Rocky soil. A clearing in the center. On the left a path rises to the castle. The background slopes down in the center to a deep-set forest lake.
For texts, there's a highly usable German-English Parsifal libretto on the Opera Folio website, with an adequate translation, all beautifully displayed on-screen. As noted above, we pick up at "Da Titurel, in hohen Alters Mühen" ("When Titurel, much burdened with age") near the end of the "Titurel, der fromme Held" narration, and continue to Gurnemanz's "Des Haines Tiere nahten dir nicht zahm."
Ludwig Weber (bs), Gurnemanz; Elisabeth Rutgers (s), Sieglinde Wagner (ms), Erich Majkut (t), and Hermann Gallos (t), Esquires; Hugo Meyer Welfing (t) and Harald Pröglhöf (bs), Knights; Günther Treptow (t), Parsifal; Anny Konetzni (s), Kundry; Vienna State Opera Chorus members, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Moralt, cond. Myto, live concert performance, [Oct. 1?] 1948
FINALLY, A FULLISH VERSION OF OUR WHOLE SCENE
Now we go back farther in Gurnemanz's narration, picking up in his account of the actual wounding of Amfortas, which Gurnemanz didn't actually see, but was close enough to rush onto the scene at the sound of an unearthly scream, where he found Klingsor in possession of the holy spear (the one that had been used on the person of the savior) and fought to make good the escape of the gravely wounded Amfortas. Then we go through the rest of Scene 1 of Act I, learning a good deal about Parsifal's history thanks to Kundry, and we hear yet another of those gorgeous scene-change orchestral interludes Wagner so loved. It has occurred to Gurnemanz that Parsifal, who doesn't seem to know much of anything, may be the prophesied "pure fool" who can heal Amfortas's wound, and he wants him to have an interaction with the king.
Parsifal: Act I, Gurnemanz, "Des Königs Flucht gab kämpfend ich Geleite" through the end of Scene 1, continuing through the orchestral interlude to the start of Act I, Scene 2, through Gurnemanz's "Nun achte wohl, und lass mich sehn"
Plot synopsis for Act I, Scene 1 (from the Metropolitan Opera): [PREVIOUSLY: Near the sanctuary of the Holy Grail, the old knight Gurnemanz and two sentries wake and perform their morning prayers, while other knights prepare a bath for their ailing ruler Amfortas, who suffers from an incurable wound. Suddenly, Kundry—a mysterious, ageless woman who serves as the Grail’s messenger—appears. She has brought medicine for Amfortas. The knights carry in the king. He reflects on a prophecy that speaks of his salvation by a “pure fool, enlightened by compassion,” then is borne off.] When the esquires ask about Klingsor, a sorcerer who is trying to destroy the knights of the Grail, Gurnemanz tells the story of Amfortas’s wound: The Holy Grail—the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper—and the Spear that pierced his body on the cross were given into the care of Titurel, Amfortas’s father, who assembled a company of knights to guard the relics. Klingsor, wishing to join the brotherhood, tried to overcome his sinful thoughts by castrating himself, but the brotherhood rejected him. Seeking vengeance, he built a castle across the mountains with a magic garden full of alluring women to entrap the knights. Amfortas set out to defeat Klingsor, but was himself seduced by a terribly beautiful woman. Klingsor stole the Holy Spear from Amfortas and used it to stab him. The wound can only be healed by the innocent youth of which the prophecy has spoken. Suddenly, a swan plunges to the ground, struck dead by an arrow. The knights drag in a young man, who boasts of his archery skills. He is ashamed when Gurnemanz rebukes him, but he cannot explain his violent act or even state his name. All he remembers is his mother, Herzeleide, or “Heart’s Sorrow.” Kundry tells the youth’s history: His father died in battle, and his mother reared the boy in a forest, but now she too is dead. Gurnemanz leads the nameless youth to the banquet of the Grail, wondering if he may be the prophecy’s fulfillment.
For German-and-English texts, here again is the link to the Opera Folio Parsifal libretto. We're in the portion of Gurnemanz's narration that begins: "Das ist ein And'res; jedem ist's verwehrt" ("That is quite different: it is forbidden to all"). Our first line is "Des Königs Flucht gab kämpfend ich Geleite" ("Fighting, I guarded the king's flight").
Ludwig Weber (bs), Gurnemanz; Erich Majkut (t), 3rd Esquire; Elisabeth Rutgers (s), 1st Esquire; Sieglinde Wagner (ms), 2nd Esquire; Hermann Gallos (t), 4th Esquire; Hugo Meyer Welfing (t), 1st Knight; Harald Pröglhöf (bs), 2nd Knight; Günther Treptow (t), Parsifal; Anny Konetzni (s), Kundry; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Moralt, cond. Myto, live concert performance, [Oct. 1?] 1948
Franz Crass (bs), Gurnemanz; Rudolf A. Hartmann-Geniffke (t), 3rd Esquire; Elisabeth Schwarzenberg (s), 1st Esquire; Sieglinde Wagner (ms), 2nd Esquire; Heinz Zednik (t), 4th Esquire; Heribert Steinbach (t), 1st Knight; Heinz Feldhoff (bs), 2nd Knight; Sándor Kónya (t), Parsifal; Janis Martin (s), Kundry; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Eugen Jochum, cond. Live performance, July 24, 1971
Kurt Moll (bs), Gurnemanz; Helmut Holzapfel (t), 3rd Esquire; Regina Marheineke (s), 1st Esquire; Claudia Hellmann (ms), 2nd Esquire; Karl-Heinz Eichler (t), 4th Esquire; Norbert Orth (t), 1st Knight; Roland Bracht (bs), 2nd Knight; James King (t), Parsifal; Yvonne Minton (ms), Kundry; Bavarian Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. Recorded for broadcast, May 1980
ONE PERFORMANCE NOTE: ABOUT TODAY'S STAR GURNEMANZ
Obviously we're heavily featuring Ludwig Weber as Gurnemanz, a role he can be heard singing in a variety of theaters. Note, though, that this isn't his much-admired performance in Decca's live recording of Parsifal from the first post-World War II Bayreuth Festival, in 1951. I like this 1948 Vienna Radio performance (a precursor to the 149 Ring cycle also conducted by Rudolf Moralt, from which we've heard a number of excerpts), which features Weber in something like his best voice and singing with deep involvement and eloquence.
SUNDAY NIGHT: STILL TO COME
I've got an interesting assortment of performances lined up, if I'm up to the numbing work of preparing them for posting, with some obvious Gurnemanz contenders (Kurt Moll, Franz Crass, Hans Hotter) and some less expected ones (Donald McIntyre, sounding very different from his more dogged Heldenbariton self, in fact singing quite beautifully), Cesare Siepi, Franz Mazura), not to mention snatches of an array of Parsifals (Sándor Kónya, James King, Jon Vickers. Plus there's so much that really ought to be noted in this scene, as it connects to the themes we've been pursuing. How much of that will happen, I guess we'll find out.
MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Okay, progress is made! We've now got a second performance of our whole excerpt in place, from the 1971 Jochum-Bayreuth Parsifal with Franz Crass as Gurnemanz, Sándor Kónya as Parsifal, and Janis Martin as Kundry -- plus we've even got the Crass "Durch Mitleid wissend" added at the top of the post!
And by TUESDAY NOON we've got some other clips in place, including two versions of "Durch Mitleid wissend" with Kurt Moll at the top of the post and three versions of the complete excerpt at the bottom. (As for the Moll double dip, is anyone complaining? What happened is: When I first attempted to add Moll to this mix, my computer wouldn't track my copy of the 1980 Kubelik Parsifal, so I settled for the 1991-92 Levine but wasn't really happy with it -- though it's possible to justify the Esquires' whispering "interpretively," how does it help if we can't hear them? -- and eventually was able to get the Kubelik discs to work. Once I had the Moll-Kubelik in place, I guess I should have just deleted the other, but, well, I just couldn't.)
There's still so much more I wanted to do with this material, and I still want to add a "complete" clip from the McIntyre-Goodall performance. We'll see, I guess.
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