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From the outset, the music of Wagner’s last opera garnered great admiration, but time and again the religious-philosophical background of the libretto has given rise to heated discussions. Only a ‘pure fool’ can, through Christian compassion, bring salvation and redemption to King Amfortas and the declining Grail community. But is Parsifal still a ‘pure fool’ after he has been kissed by Kundry? At the end of the opera, he, the redeemer, appears to be in need of redemption himself. Kundry also carries two souls within her: she is both seductress and servant. The leitmotifs are spun together in such a way that this underlying ambivalence is manifested not only in the story,  but also in the sublime drama of the music.

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

  • © Monika Rittershaus en Ruth Walz

credits

music Richard Wagner libretto Richard Wagner musical direction Iván Fischer direction Pierre Audi set design Anish Kapoor costumes Christof Hetzer light design Jean Kalman dramaturgy Klaus Bertisch cast Rosanne van Sandwijk, Melanie Greve, Tomoko Makuuchi, Inez Hafkamp, Oleksandra Lenyshyn, Jeroen de Vaal, Erik Slik, Lisette Bolle, Roger Smeets, Marieke Reuten, Jean-Léon Klostermann, Kurt Rydl, Falk Struckmann, Christopher Ventris, Petra Lang, Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester orchestra Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra choir Koor van De Nederlandse Opera rehearsal leader Martin Wright

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