Richard Wagner: Parsifal

A comprehensive account of Wagner's last, and strangest opera.

Lucy Beckett (Author)

9780521296625, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 20 August 1981

176 pages
21.7 x 13.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.255 kg

'The wealth of analytic insight, into both text and music, belies the book's modest length, and it must surely be recognized as the best English study of Parsifal now available.' Music & Letters

In this book Lucy Beckett gives a comprehensive account of Wagner's last and strangest opera. The literary sources of this work, its many links with Wagner's life and thought, its libretto, music and stage history, are all thoroughly examined. There is a full commentary, with extensive quotation, on the work's critical history, and finally, a fresh assessment of its place in the Wagner canon and of its unique quality as a music drama that is both modern and Christian. Full references, a bibliography and a discography are provided. A special chapter of musical analysis is contributed by Arnold Whittall.

1. The sources
2. Text and synopsis
3. The music by Arnold Whittall
4. Stage history
5. Reactions and critical assessments
6. A proposed interpretation
Notes
Bibliography
Discography Malcolm Walker.

Subject Areas: Opera [AVGC9]