Parsifal
Wagner’s final great masterpiece returns to Covent Garden in an inventive new staging by Stephen Langridge.
When to see it
Booking for 30 November 2013 - 18 December 2013 opens
- Booking opens 9 July 2013 at 10.00am for General Public.
- Booking opens 12 June 2013 at 10.00am for Friends of Covent Garden.
- Booking opens 4 June 2013 at 10.00am for Supporting Friends.
- Booking opens 31 May 2013 at 10.00am for Premium 1 Friends.
- Booking opens 30 May 2013 at 10.00am for Premium 2 Friends.
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
- Pappano
- Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
- O'Neill
- Denoke
- Pape
- Finley
- White
- Lloyd
- Butt Philip
- Mattar
- Bijelic
- Kelly
- Fubesi
- Gomes
- Byrne
- Howarth
- Patalong
- Devin
- Pierard
- Gringyte
- Royal Opera Chorus
Introduction
A young man ignorant of everything, including his own name, arrives at the Kingdom of the Holy Grail. Is he the ‘pure fool, enlightened by compassion’, who, it has been prophesied, will purify the kingdom?
News and features
Happy birthday Richard Wagner
Today marks the 200th anniversary of the German composer's birth.
Background
The creative team behind The Royal Opera’s production of The Minotaur, director Stephen Langridge and designer Alison Chitty, bring a new staging of Parsifal to Covent Garden. Parsifal, Wagner’s final opera, was first given at Bayreuth in 1882. For many years, at the insistence of Wagner and then his widow Cosima, performances outside the Bayreuth Festival were banned. This embargo was lifted in January 1914; by August of the same year Parsifal had been performed at more than fifty opera houses throughout Europe.
Wagner loosely based the opera on scenes from Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval romance Parzifal. The score contrasts the sacred with the sensual, from the stark magnificence of the music for the procession to the Grail Hall in Act I to the richly orchestrated scene in which Kundry attempts to seduce Parsifal in Act II. There are sections of almost unearthly beauty such as the Act I Prologue, the Good Friday music in Act III, and the closing scene of the opera, in which Parsifal reveals the Grail to the knights.
Live cinema season
Parsifal will be screened live in cinemas on 18 December
Thanks to
Generous philanthropic support from
Lindsay and Sarah Tomlinson, Dr and Mrs Michael West, Peter and Fiona Espenhahn, The Wagner Circle and The Parsifal Production Syndicate
How to support the Royal Opera House
Running time
About 5 hours 15 minutes | Including two intervals
Language
Sung in German with English surtitles
Credits
| Director | Stephen Langridge |
| Designs | Alison Chitty |
| Lighting design | Paul Pyant |
| Video designs | Thomas Bergmann |
| Movement | Philippe Giraudeau |
Related links
- www.telegraph.co.uk The opera novice: Parsifal
- en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia: Parsifal
- www.wagner200.co.uk Celebrating Wagner's bicentenary
- www.rohcollections.org.uk Costume, design and photographic collections – Parsifal
