Knights at the Opera, Part 4 - Wagner's Grail operas

Elsa defies her plotting elders and goes ahead with the wedding, and Act II opens with a rapturous duet in their bridal chamber. But Elsa confesses that his magical powers frighten her; she fears that the swan that brought him will all too easily take him away. She breaks down and asks him, outright, who he is. Telramund has been listening outside the chamber and immediately rushes in, where Lohengrin deals him a single, fatal blow.

In the final scene, Lohengrin explains his identity before King Henry: he is the son of Parsifal, king of the knights that guard the Holy Grail at Monsalvat, in Moslem-ruled Spain. As a knight, he had been dispatched to Antwerp to serve the pure-hearted Elsa in her time of need -- but now, he says, he must return home, without Elsa, as her punishment for her offense of breaking her word to him. He declines the king's request that he become the local leader, fearing it would actually cost him his powers (i.e., to engage in profane battle), but he assures the people that they will never be invaded by "Des Ostens Horden" - "The Eastern horde." A miracle suddenly occurs: the very swan that comes back to bear Lohengrin to Spain turns out to be Gottfried, who was never dead after all. Gottfried had in fact been turned into a bird by Ortrud, who had framed Elsa in order to marry Telramund herself. Lohenrin explains that, in a year's time, Gottfried will be restored to his former self and this provokes Ortrud into confessing her crimes. At this revelation, the swan instantly turns back into Gottfried, to whom Lohengrin gives three magical gifts, a horn for protection, a sword with guaranteed victory, and a ring for remembrance. Lohengrin's boat is borne away by the white dove of the Grail, as Elsa collapses in grief in Gottfried's arms.

Parsifal directly concerns the holy relic of the Sacred Spear, as well as the aforementioned Grail, which are both kept at Monsalvat. Act I is largely concerned with the history of the Grail, as accounted by the knight Gurnemanz, who also informs us that the knight's enemy is the magician Klingsor, a Christians-hating member of what Lohengrin called the "Eastern horde." Klingsor has used beautiful women to divert the knight Amfortas, the present King of the Grail, allowing the magician to steal away the Sacred Spear. Adding injury

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4