Overture Magazine: 2017-2018 Season September-October 2017 | Page 27

WAGNER’S QUEST
“pure fool” who will heal Amfortas and
restore the community.
In the third excerpt, we move back
a bit in the story to Parsifal’s magical
journey to the Grail Hall and the
equally magical music Wagner created to
describe it, known as the Transformation
Music. The tolling motive that fills this
majestic march is that of the bells of
Monsalvat. This journey is less a physical
than a spiritual one, for as the wondering
Parsifal sings, “I hardly step, yet already
seem to have come far,” Gurnemanz
replies, “You see, my son, time here
becomes space.” Here Wagner creates a
splendid tapestry of contrapuntal lines,
utilizing the entire orchestra.
The final excerpt moves to Act III and
the last 15 minutes of the opera. Many
years have passed, and Parsifal has finally
found his way back to the Grail Hall.
Amfortas, unable to carry out the ritual,
gazes at the body of his father, Titurel, who
has died without the Grail’s sustenance. In
his second monologue, he prays to Titurel
to intercede for him in Heaven and finally
bring him healing through death. The
Grail knights frantically urge him to carry
out the ceremony.
Parsifal now steps forward and heals
Amfortas by touching him lightly with
the sacred spear he has brought back to
Monsalvat. He blesses him for his suffering,
which has now taught him wisdom through
compassion. Assuming leadership of the
community, he calls for the Grail to be
uncovered and the ceremony to begin anew.
In the opera’s final moments as the ritu-
al is re-enacted, Wagner weaves a glorious
web of most of his major themes. At the
close, trumpets and trombones pierce the
texture with the upward-yearning theme
with which the opera began. Wagner had
the gift of creating his greatest music for
his operas’ conclusions, and this is surely
the most sublime of them all.
Instrumentation: Three flutes, three oboes,
OFF THE CUFF
Perfect for first-time
symphony attendees
and aficionados alike,
your conductor is your
guide as you explore the
story behind the music.
IMPRESSIONIST
MASTERWORKS
FRI, JAN 12 | 8:15 PM STRATHMORE
SAT, JAN 13 | 7 PM MEYERHOFF
Marin Alsop, Music Director
Visuals from the Baltimore Museum of Art
DEBUSSY // La Mer
RAVEL // La Valse
RITE OF SPRING
WAGNER’S QUEST
FRI, OCT 6 | 8:15 PM STRATHMORE
SAT, OCT 7 | 7 PM MEYERHOFF FRI, FEB 23 | 8:15 PM STRATHMORE
SAT, FEB 24 | 7 PM MEYERHOFF
Markus Stenz, Principal Guest Conductor
Alfred Walker, bass-baritone Marin Alsop, Music Director
WAGNER // Selections from Parsifal
MOZART’S MYSTERIOUS
REQUIEM
FRI, DEC 1 | 8:15 PM STRATHMORE
SAT, DEC 2 | 7 PM MEYERHOFF
Marin Alsop, Music Director
Alisa Jo