Wagner's Parsifal

[knight66]

Lis, The female oracle at Delphi through whom Apollo made obscure and double sided prophecy.

0:)

Mike

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Thank you, Luv! 

Looked to me like an acronym! 

[knight66]

My pleasure Lis.

Well, back to the sandpit.

Mike

[Lilas Pastia]

Pythea (pythie in Fench) are not unknown to the opera: In Paris' fabled  Palais Garnier:




Parsifal was first given in Paris in 1914.



Le Bassin de la Pythie is one of the splendors of this magnificent opera house. The oracle is represented by the bronze statue.

Another one is the Chagall ceiling (yes, he also painted the famous entrance at the Lincoln Center):



The glittering foyer:

And the monumental staircase:

And of course the Palais Garnier is the haunt of Leroux' famous Phantom of the Opera !

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Stunning photos, André, mind bugling, and I thank you. 

Freunderl, none of those photos would have been made available to us if Mike/Knigh would have spelled the name of Pythea correctly, with a capital P, because then I would have known who he was talking about, but his spelling looked like an acronym!

Btw.: two of his pictures didn't come through.

[Wendell_E]

You may inform that poster that the motif is neither Mendelssohn's nor Wagner's, but is the common property of many 19th-century and later compositions. It's a cadence known as the Dresden Amen. Its composition is attributed to Dresden composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann, and it was written sometime in the mid- to late-18th century.

Ahem!  As Valentino pointed out above, I posted about the Dresden Amen back on Sept. 8th.  I guess I'm on "ignore".   

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Wendell, there is no ignore function available at GMG! 

I voluntarily have chosen to ignore the subject Parsifal, missing your post, sorry. I am not a Parsifal devotee!   

[Anne]

Does anyone know how the acoustics are at the Paris Opera?  It is truly a gorgeous building!

[Coopmv]

Pythea (pythie in Fench) are not unknown to the opera: In Paris' fabled  Palais Garnier:




Parsifal was first given in Paris in 1914.



Le Bassin de la Pythie is one of the splendors of this magnificent opera house. The oracle is represented by the bronze statue.

Another one is the Chagall ceiling (yes, he also painted the famous entrance at the Lincoln Center):



The glittering foyer:

And the monumental staircase:

And of course the Palais Garnier is the haunt of Leroux' famous Phantom of the Opera !

Excellent pictures.  Some of them refused to load, is that an IE problem? 

[Coopmv]

Does anyone know how the acoustics are at the Paris Opera?  It is truly a gorgeous building!

I bet it is better than anything we have here in the US ...

[Lilas Pastia]

The Palais Garnier is indeed one of the world's most stunning buildings in terms of functionality and as representation of its art. I see that the Pythie pic is not there. it WAS there when I posted yesterday night  . I'll try to get it back. Stay tuned! 

[Lilas Pastia]

The Chagall  ceiling, a personal order from french Minister of Culture André Malraux:

And the Pythie basin:

The latter was the source of my search. When Lis asked what the pythea was, I remembered the connection between the Paris opera and the pythie.

Other pics of the pythie and the Chagall ceiling:

[Sergeant Rock]

Does anyone know how the acoustics are at the Paris Opera?

I've only heard one opera there, and that was many years ago (1972, Die Walküre with Jean Cox, Régina Crespin, Birgit Lindholm, Hubert Hofmann, and Michael Langdon, Alexander Gibson conducting). Memory may be playing tricks but I recall a very satisfactory sound with impactful orchestra and singers heard clearly. We were in the upper reaches (four, five stories above the stage), in a cosy private box for two (like this, only higher) that seemed specifically built for romantic assignations  A wonderful experience.

Sarge

[Lilas Pastia]

Opera boxes shield you from your neighbours, but you're in full view of the opposite side of the horseshoe  .

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Does anyone know how the acoustics are at the Paris Opera?  It is truly a gorgeous building!

My friend Nigel, Paris resident and subscriber to Garnier performances, said this, which should answer the question:

I've given some thought to your question but don't really have a firm opinion of the Garnier acoustics. The Musée d'Orsay website says they are excellent and I have seen them also described as "matchless" but I've never found them quite so exceptional, perhaps because I've been to Vienna, where the effect of being immersed in the music is simply astounding. So I guess you might say they're very good, definitely much better than the Bastille or the Met, both of which are too vast, neither too dry nor too round, but without reaching the stupendous level of the Staatsoper

[duncan]

The Garnier makes an interesting contrast with the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, the Paris house completed a year earlier and seating similar numbers (2200 v 1900) but costing 70 times as much.  So much for Wagner's profligacy!  The Garnier is the epitome of Opera-as-social event, the audience are part of the performance, every feature is designed to faciliate this, not least the famous staircase.  The Festspielhaus has one aim: to present the sacred art of Richard Wagner, all else is irrelevant or a distraction, and detail or ornament is non-existent.

[Lilas Pastia]

But don't forget the waiting list and ticket prices. I don't think those are irrelevant distractions 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Do you think I am very pedantic when I tell you it's Pythia... ?  0:)

And now on with Parsifal, whose prelude to Act 3 is one of Wagner's greatest, in my opinion. I don't think anyone has been able to express wandering, striving and suffering through life as wonderfully as Wagner did in that music.

[knight66]

Do you think I am very pedantic when I tell you it's Pythia... ?  0:)

Yes

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes

Refreshingly honest, as usual.