Sacred stage play in 3 Acts
Libretto by the composer
First performed July 26 1882, Festspielhaus, Bayreuth
Sung in German with German & English surtitles
Introductory talks (in German) in the Holzfoyer 30 mins before curtain up, available here shortly after opening night and everywhere where podcasts can be found.
There's a chamber music concert at 11am on June 8 inspired by Parsifal
King Amfortas, Guardian of the Grail, lost the Holy Spear to the Knighthood’s adversary Klingsor, who dealt him a wound with it that can never close. Kundry, a mysterious, two-faced woman, serves the knights; procuring medicines for Amfortas’ pain, which do little good. While the King hopes the lake’s cooling waves might bring some respite, Gurnemanz tells the squires how the spear was lost, a warning about the temptations in Klingsor’s magic garden, and how Titurel, Amfortas’ father, was given the Grail and Spear, and founded the Knighthood.
Parsifal appears. The young daredevil committed sacrilege by shooting down a swan in the sanctuary. Gurnemanz scolds him. The stranger can’t answer any of his questions. Kundry tells him that his mother, who raised him in the woods, died, after he chased after knights, who impressed him, and got lost. Parsifal’s devastated. Gurnemanz has an idea: might this naive bumpkin be the »innocent fool«, who could bring salvation to their community if he were »enlightened by compassion«, as was prophesied to Amfortas? Gurnemanz takes Parsifal to the castle, to witness the ritual unveiling of the Grail. The wound Klingsor dealt him with the Holy Spear, and his self-inflicted guilt over losing it, cause Amfortas unimaginable anguish. But he can’t die as long as he does his duty and unveils the Grail. Elderly Titurel mercilessly pressurizes his son to continue, because the sight of the Grail is the only thing keeping him alive. Parsifal looks on in bewilderment. Gurnemanz sends him packing, as he obviously didn’t understand a thing.
Act 2
After tricking Amfortas out of the spear, Klingsor now has the Grail in his sights. He wakes Kundry, now a seductive woman, from a death-like sleep, which overcomes her each time she metamorphoses from one existence to another, summoning her as the reincarnation of Herodias, cursed ever since she laughed at Jesus being crucified. Klingsor unmanned himself, the only way to control his urges, to join the Knights of the Grail, but was turned down, which made him turn to magic. This gives him power over Kundry; who he deploys against Parsifal, now approaching the castle.
Klingsor‘s slave girls welcome the young man, who’s never met a woman before. He’s indifferent to their wiles. Kundry appears, calling him by his name. She tells him about his mother, Herzeleide, who gave birth to him after his father Gamuret was killed in battle. Parsifal’s riddled with guilt: Herzeleide died after he left her alone. Kundry promises him absolution, if he kisses her like his mother did.
Parsifal suddenly realises how Amfortas got the wound: he succumbed to Kundry’s seductive tricks. Parsifal knows he has to retrieve the spear and free the Grail from Amfortas’ guilt-stained hands. He spurns Kundry’s advances. When she tells him about her curse, he promises her redemption too, but not in a loving embrace. In her desperation she curses him never to find the way to the Grail’s castle, and calls for Klingsor’s help. Parsifal banishes the sorcerer with the sign of the cross, and rescues the spear. Klingsor’s realm falls apart.
Act 3
Amfortas hasn’t unveiled the Grail for a long time. The Knights suffer terribly. Old Titurel died. One morning in the hermitage, to which he withdrew, Gurnemanz finds Kundry, back after many years. After a long odyssey, Parsifal finally finds the Grail’s sanctuary again. When Gurnemanz recognises the Holy Spear in his hand, he anoints him King of the Grail. Kundry washes his feet. It’s Good Friday, and the fresh flowering meadow seems to mirror mankind’s and the natural world’s redemption. Titurel’s burial is taking place in the Grail’s temple. The knights angrily insist that Amfortas unveil the Grail, but he refuses, begging them to kill him instead. Parsifal steps between them and hands him the spear. The wound heals. Parsifal is welcomed as the community’s new leader.
Amfortas, leader of the Knights of the Grail, was wounded when he lost the Holy Spear to Klingsor, a wound, that won’t close ...
Richard Wagner wrote this, his last work for the Festspielhaus he designed in Bayreuth, which opened in 1876 with his Ring des Nibelungen. He continued using Leitmotivs, as in the Ring, but differently. Whereas in the tetralogy, as in earlier operas, the plot was often influenced by violent conflict and dramatic moments of truth, the events in Wagner's »taking leave from the world piece« unfold in a different time frame, the music transcending the pseudo-religious setting by penetrating worlds no composer ever dared bring to the operatic stage before.
