Paul Heise, an independent Wagnerian scholar who has assiduously studied Wagner’s works and writings for more than 30 years, favored us with a presentation on December 4, at Hill House, Beacon Hill (see his following article).

Titled “How Elsa Showed the Way to Siegfried: The Influence of Lohengrin on the Ring Cycle,” the talk lasted two and a half hours, with numerous interjections by an involved audience. One of Heise’s main tenets is that Wagner was influenced primarily by Feuerbach, and not by Schopenhauer as is commonly thought. Even after Wagner entered his allegedly Schopen-hauerian phase, he wrote in the vein of Feuer-bach. To prove his point, Heise presented his audience with a compendium of similar quotes from both authors.

He also elaborated on the differences between art and religion: religion asks us to believe in its myths, whereas the artist knows he is evading the truth. Hence “the purpose of art is to give us the feeling that Paradise has been restored,” he said. Bubbling with enthusiasm, Heise also expertly teased out the innumerable elements in the dense Ring Cycle and correlated them with those of other Wagnerian operas, particularly Lohengrin. “All of Wagner’s works are the same work in essence, but each tackles a different problem, a different aspect,” said Heise. For instance, both Lohengrin and the Siegried involve the use of a ring, horn, and sword. In Lohengrin, the ring reminds Gottfried (Elsa’s brother) what Lohengrin set out to do but couldn’t do—“This ring shall [re]mind him [Gottfried] who did most befriend him”— in the same way that Wotan was powerless to change the course of events.

Heise’s grasp of Wagner was so vast that one idea after another came tumbling out like an endlessly cascading fountain. And the audience lapped it up, clamoring for more. As of December 4, Heise has a standing invitation to return to Boston for another talk, most likely about Parsifal.

This prolific speaker has made his talk available to us. If anyone is interested in obtaining a hard copy, please let me know. You can also e-mail him at alberich00@operamail.com.

–Dalia Geffen