Music: Wagner in Indiana

For three years, Midwest music lovers who like to settle down to five hours of Richard Wagner's Parsifal in the closing days of Lent have been heading for Bloomington, Ind. Indiana University does not advertise the Palm Sunday Parsifal produced (in English) by its Opera Workshop, but those who have seen it have spread the word. Each year, more & more people, from Indianapolis, Louisville and Cincinnati, make the trek.

This week Bloomington (pop. 28,000) was filled with its biggest Wagner crowd yet. Some nibbled a "Parsifal" Supper ($1 buffet) in the university dining hall; others brought their own in boxes. Then,...