Parsifal

Parsifal is a sacred festival for the stage based on medieval legends about the Holy Grail and the lance of Longinus. It was also Richard Wagner's last score. Symbolic in character, it exemplifies better than any other opera the concept of redemption. Parsifal, the hero who is ignorant of his own origins and even his name, personifies innocence and compassion.

In 1914 the exclusive rights the Bayreuth Festival had held since 1882 expired, allowing Parsifal to be performed at other venues. This aroused such excitement in Barcelona that the Liceu became the first opera house in the world to unveil the colossal score, at midnight on 31 December 1913.

In this version – undoubtedly one of the most widely acclaimed – Claus Guth directs his gaze towards the "old Europe" which is so well portrayed in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain. Coproduced in 2011 by the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Opernhaus Zürich, it interprets the work in a different timeframe from the original one. Guth associates the Knights of the Grail searching for a Redeemer with the disorientation and search for meaning which marked the aftermath of the First World War and even points to the events that led to the 1933 power seizure in Germany. The setting is a run-down hospital for war wounded, where trauma and discouragement reign and the hopes placed in a new leader will only lead to a new disaster. Focussing on symbols and myths, it illustrates moral and physical decadence in a family saga, but also a conflict that can be solved by love and forgiveness.

In his days as a choirboy at the monastery of Montserrat, Josep Pons already dreamed about this opera. He will guide us through the mysteries of this outstanding musical monument performed by a luxury cast including Nikolai Schukoff, Elena Pankratova, René Pape, Matthias Goerne and Evgeny Nikitin. It will undoubtedly be one of the most moving events of the season.

Production: Gran Teatre del Liceu.