Off to Helengrad

I'm off to Helengrad early tomorrow to see 'Parsifal' and catch up with friends, so blogging may either be intermittent or non-existent until at least Monday. Try and cope without me.

"What's Parsifal?" I hear you ask, "and why is it on St Patrick's night?" To the second question I can only assume someone stuffed up, but a St Pad's Parsifal does give a good excuse to slip a few cans of Guiness into the auditorium.

To the first question: it's an opera by Wagner -- which means a long one -- described by Nietzsche as a “sell-out” to the Christian faith, by Tchaikovsky as a long, boring experience, and by Debussy as “the greatest monument in sound ever raised to the glory of music.” Of the all New Zealand cast featuring Donald McIntyre, Simon O'Neill and Margaret Medlyn, Bayreuth producer Keith Warner declared "you wouldn't expect to get a better cast in most opera houses in Europe."

So I'm looking forward to a great night or two.

If you want to know more (and to see the source of those quotes), this link has details of a talk on 'Parsifal' by the always illuminating Heath Lees tonight on Concert FM; this site has all the lietmotifs you need to know, and this site has almost everythelse a Parsifal-goer might need.

LINKS: Parsifal in Perspective - Heath Lees - Concert FM
Simon O'Neill's website
Parsifal - RichardWagner.Net
Parsifal - Derrick Everett's Monsalvat site

TAGS: Music, Wellington, Events