Object details
Object number
v.1.a.1.28
Creator(s)
Title
Parsifal: Libretto for Mr. B.J. Lang's private performance at Symphony Hall, Boston
Date
6 January 1903
Medium
Printed ink on paper
Language
German
Publication Place
Boston
Binding Description
white cloth; gilt stamped lettering
Description
1 vol., [2] 63 p. [1], 12°
Provenance
Gift from the American conductor Benjamin Johnson Lang (1837-1909) to Isabella Stewart Gardner by 1909.
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Inscribed in ink (on flyleaf): Mrs. Gardner / Xmas 1902. / BJL. [B.J. Lang]
Dimensions
18.4 x 11.3 x 1.3 cm (7 1/4 x 4 7/16 x 1/2 in.)
Commentary
For Christmas in 1902, conductor B.J. Lang gave Isabella a libretto for Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal. He gave Isabella this libretto in anticipation of a private performance of Parsifal he was conducting at the recently-constructed Symphony Hall two weeks later. His note accompanying this gift reads: “It seems as if you ought to have a better Parsifal than ordinary folk.”Isabella admired Wagner’s work and went to great lengths to see his performances. She traveled many times to Bayreuth, where Wagner hosted an annual music festival, and attended his operas in the United States and Europe. Isabella’s libretto from Lang, along with a second libretto for Parsifal that she collected, are both housed in the Vatichino.
Gallery
Vatichino
Bibliography
Ana Barrett, "Belle of the Opera: Gardner and Wagner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 July 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/belle-opera-gardner-and-wagner
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