Images of Time and Eternity in R. Wagner’s Theatrical Mystery “Parsifal”

The article is devoted to the analysis of philosophical motives of Richard Wagner’s opera “Parsifal”. The main attention in the study is paid to the problem of the relationship between time and eternity in the musical fabric of the work, as well as the problem of art and religion in Wagner’s theatrical mystery. The thesis is substantiated that Wagner’s work is characterized by a tendency towards an unfinished transition from the aesthetic to the post-aesthetic. A comparative analysis of “Parsifal” with Alban Berg’s opera “Lulu” and with Alfred Schnittke’s cantata “The History of Doctor Johann Faust” is carried out. The philosophical analysis of Wagner’s opera is carried out in the context of the conceptual developments of A. Bely, O. Spengler and A.F. Losev. It is concluded that Wagner’s theatrical mystery “Parsifal”, being a work of art, simultaneously reveals tendencies to go beyond the sphere of purely artistic. Here we are dealing with a work of art that aspires to be more than just a work of art.