Wagner's 'Parsifal' versus Debussy's 'Pelleas'

[Homo Aestheticus]

We know that  Parsifal  had an enormous influence on Debussy's composing of his opera.

Separately, our own Jezetha once wrote:

"Parsifal  is the subtlest thing Wagner ever wrote. It is much more abstract than the other music dramas, the sense of 'lived life' isn't so strong anymore, and the characters too are more symbolic (compare Alberich/Hagen and Klingsor, for example). The music is much more restrained and pared down (think of the Prelude), and also the orchestration is a miracle of refinement. Well, Pelléas et Mélisande  is generally regarded as a work that carries this another step further. Of course, Wagner and Debussy are two very different composers, living through different times, born in different countries etcetera. And  Pelléas et Melisande  simply doesn't aim for 'oomph, passion, fire'. It is a rather melancholy work set in a melancholy world. However, I personally have always felt that  Pelléas et Mélisande  seems, in a sense, to begin where  Parsifal  left off, the nec plus ultra of poetic subtlety in opera, IMO..."

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Despite all of this, does  Parsifal  remain closer to your heart ?

Or is it  P&M  for you ?

[knight66]

No....not yet again, not P&M again. Not at this time of hope with Obama days from the Whitehouse. I am locking this thread....give it a rest please Eric. Chuck the Pelle-spam.

Knight