Richard Wagner

Parsifal

May 20 – Jun 5

Tickets from $33.00 |

Price includes $10.00 fee

A profound philosophical meditation on compassion and reconciliation, Wagner’s transcendent rendering of a medieval knight’s heroic quest for the Holy Grail returns in François Girard’s celebrated production, a “thoughtful and intrepid staging, full of striking imagery” (The New York Times). Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast of Wagnerian superstars, including tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the enigmatic Kundry, baritone Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the sorcerer Klingsor, and bass Jongmin Park as the wise Gurnemanz.

Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the June 1 and 5 performances, as part of The Met: Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra National de Lyon, and the Canadian Opera Company

Production a gift of the Gramma Fisher Foundation, Marshalltown, Iowa

Major funding from Rolex

Additional funding from Marina Kellen French and the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation

Revival a gift of the Charles and Lisa Simonyi DA Fund for Arts and Sciences

The Met gratefully acknowledges the support of the Gramma Fisher Foundation, Marshalltown, Iowa

Sung In

German

Met Titles In

  • English
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian

Estimated Run Time

5 hrs 40 mins

House Opens

Act I

110 mins

Intermission

40 mins

Act II

70 mins

Intermission

40 mins

Acts III

40 mins

Opera Ends

World premiere: Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, 1882. Wagner’s final opera is a musical journey unlike any other. The composer preferred to call his mature works “music dramas,” but he set Parsifal even further apart by naming it a Bühnenweihfestspiel, a “festival play for the consecration of a stage”—the stage in question being that of his Bayreuth Festival House. The opera tells the tale of a young man who is destined to renew a brotherhood of knights charged with guarding the relics of Christ’s last days. The psychological, mythical, and mystical possibilities of such a story are obvious, and Wagner’s accomplishment results in an air of reverence that surrounds this piece.

Creators

Richard Wagner (1813–83) was the complex, controversial creator of music-drama masterpieces that stand at the center of today’s operatic repertory. Born in Leipzig, Germany, he was an artistic revolutionary who reimagined every supposition about music and theater. Wagner insisted that words and music were equals in his works. This approach led to the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art,” combining music, poetry, architecture, painting, and other disciplines, a notion that has had an impact on creative fields far beyond opera.

  • composer

    Richard Wagner

Production

François Girard

SET DESIGNER

Michael Levine

COSTUME DESIGNER

Thibault Vancraenenbroeck

LIGHTING DESIGNER

David Finn

Video Designer

Peter Flaherty

CHOREOGRAPHER

Carolyn Choa

Dramaturg

Serge Lamothe

C. Graham Berwind, III Chorus Director

Tilman Michael

Setting

Parsifal takes place in and around the sanctuary of the knights of the Holy Grail, at the mythical location of Monsalvat in Spain, during the Middle Ages. The Met’s current production, directed by François Girard, places the action in an unspecified, timeless setting.

Music

The score of Parsifal is an extraordinary blend of musical transcendence and dramatic cohesion. The use of bells and offstage choruses are among the unusual effects that create an almost liturgical atmosphere. The magnificent and expansive prelude conveys the important role the orchestra will play in creating a world in which time itself is experienced in an unusual way. The vocal parts call for superior control to sustain the long melodic lines. Many passages demand a high degree of sheer lyrical beauty, but there are also jarringly dramatic moments, as well.

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