Parsifal
3rd Act
An intense dose of Wagner on the Main Stage
Parsifal is the last music drama written by Richard Wagner. Its final act may very well feature the master’s most powerful piece of music. Now you can experience it as a concert – complete with brilliant soloists, the Norwegian National Opera Chorus and the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra!
Religion, philosophy, eroticism and music on a grand scale – Wagner’s Parsifal is a feast for the senses! It is also one of Wagner’s longest works. You now have the opportunity to enjoy an intense excerpt from this opera in the form of the final act, performed as a concert on the Main Stage.
Maybe this is your first encounter with Wagner, or perhaps you are a diehard Wagner fan, longing for yet another dose. Either way, close your eyes and be taken away by this wonderful musical.
The battle against evil
The drama is based on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s epic Parzival from the 13th century. The story revolves around the Holy Grail, from which Jesus is said to have drunk at the Last Supper, and the Holy Lance, used to pierce his side as he hung on the cross. The young Parsifal, a ‘pure madman’, guards these relics together with a brotherhood of knights. When Amfortas, King of the Grail Knights, is wounded by the spear, Parsifal must battle against the evil magician Klingsor.
Sacred music
Wagner wrote the text himself and did not want Parsifal to be performed anywhere else but at his own opera house in Bayreuth. It was not an opera, he claimed, but sacred music for the stage.
The Good Friday music in Act 3, known for its incredible beauty, was one of the first pieces Wagner wrote for this work.
- Free introduction one hour before the performance