Re: thought for the week of August 29, 1999

On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Tim Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> COPYRIGHT OF "PARSIFAL"
> =============
> PETITION TO THE REICHSTAG
> REJECTED
>
> (From our own correspondent)
>
> Berlin, Feb. 6 [1913]
>
> The Reichstag Committee on Petitions
> rejected today a petition which, among
> others, bore the signatures of the Crown
> Prince and other members of the Prussian
> Royal Family, demanding an extension of
> the now expiring copyright of _Parsifal_
> so that its performance may continue to
> be confined to Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
> Dr. Kerschensteiner, who read the report
> of the Committee, made a vigorous defence
> of the claims of Bayreuth. In letters to
> King Ludwig II, Wagner had expressed the
> wish that _Parsifal_ should be performed
> there "solely and alone for all time."
> The composer himself, and subsequently
> his family, had made great financial
> sacrifices in confining the drama to its
> shrine and in trying to keep the full score
> unpublished. Such an art work as _Parsifal_
> would lose its influence upon mankind if
> it were not performed as Wagner intended.
> The Emperor Frederick had protested against
> its unrestricted performance, and Puccini
> had called the idea a profanation. _Parsifal_
> offered peculiar opportunities for tasteless
> and immoral treatment at the hands of
> money-making theatre managers. The objection
> that the restriction on its performance in
> Germany would not protect it abroad was
> hardly as vital to Germany as her own
> national obligation to a German artist.
>
> The opponents of the petition said that no
> national piety could justify an exceptive
> law in favour of the Wagner family, ideal
> though its motives were. _Parsifal_ should
> become a common national treasure. The
> petition really demanded an extension of
> the Copyright law, and "personal rights"
> should not be protected like that.
>
> A bill in the sense of the petition has
> been presesnted to the Reichstag, but will,
> doubtless, share the fate of the petition.
> Meanwhile the first performance of _Parsifal_
> in German outside Bayreuth has been already
> arranged to take place at Leipzig next January,
> with scenery by Herr Max Klinger.
> --The Times (London), Friday, February 7, 1913,
> page 6, column c.
>
> I guess the Prussian Royal Family and the Wagner heirs didn't have
> Disney's millions.
>
> I am not aware that Parsifal, or anything else of Wagner's, has
> gotten notoriously bad treatment since its copyright lapsed.
> Perhaps even, productions of Wagner tend to be overly-conservative
> and insufficiently experimental? Any opera buffs on the list with
> opinions on this?

Combining a discussion of Copyright and Wagner, what a treat for the day!

I attended a performance of Parsifal at the Bavarian State Opera House a few years ago in Munich, Germany. The staging was horrible, although the musical performance was sublime. The set was in a minimalist style with color schemes that surely made Wagner role over in his grave. It certain detracted from Parsifal being considered a Gesamtkunstwerk. However, the Bavarian State Opera House should not be prevented from experimenting, because it is an admirable goal of modern society to breath new life (new interpretation) into works that are hundreds of years old. Copyright should not be used to limit modern interpretation of art. As some would argue, historical pieces without a modern context are relics that have no intellectual or artistic relevance today. With this being said, we have to accept poor attempts to change the staging as I witnessed a couple of years ago.

San Francisco Opera is performing Parsifal next June. Based on their performance of the Ring Cycle last June, the SF Opera performance of Parsifal will not be "tasteless and immoral".

Trevor Cox
<trevor3[_at_]ix.netcom.com> Received on Tue Aug 31 1999 - 16:10:37 GMT