Parsifal is a strange, enigmatic work. At the end of his life, did Wagner want to celebrate the asceticism he himself had never practised? Did he fall to his knees before the Cross, as Nietzsche alleged? And what is the meaning of this secret society of knights founded on the purity of blood, desperately awaiting the saviour who will regenerate it? What is the real nature of the opposition between the worlds of Klingsor and the Grail? What can Parsifal tell us today? In his artistic testament, Wagner condenses his moral conception of the world and returns to the roots of love and religion – the very heart of art, according to him. Italian director Romeo Castellucci offers an original reading of this brilliant work and explores the essence of Wagner’s “Kunstreligion” in a new light.
Casting & credits
Richard Wagner
Music drama in three acts (1882)
Creation at la Monnaie Bruxelles – 2011
Conductor Hartmut Haenchen Director, sets, costumes and lighting Romeo Castellucci Choreography Cindy Van Acker Dramaturge Piersandra Di Matteo Ensemble La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Choir La Monnaie Children's and Youth Choir and La Monnaie Choral Academy, led by Benoît Giaux Video 3 D Apparati Effimeri With Thomas Johannes Mayer, Victor von Hahem, Andrew Richards and Anna Larsson