Parsifal - Premiere - Schedule, Program & Tickets
Parsifal - Premiere
Festival Play in Three Acts
Libretto by the Composer
In German with German and English surtitles
Premiere
March 22, 2026
According to a prophecy, only a "pure fool" will be able to renew the Grail community. Should this savior be Parsifal...?
Did Richard Wagner, when he first turned to redemption in The Flying Dutchman, already know that he would thereby find his artistic life's theme? In his last work, Parsifal, premiered in Bayreuth in 1882, not only an individual but all of society awaits a redeemer – sustained by the hope of one day meeting the One to whom this task falls. Parsifal can only do this when he has become "knowing through compassion." A process that lasts many years, perhaps a lifetime. But there are forces that try to hinder him on his path. Will Parsifal be willing to put himself at the service of the community? The stage consecration festival play Parsifal continues to overwhelm us today. Can art also contribute to redemption?
Floris Visser, who has directed productions in Amsterdam and Zurich, among others, is directing for the first time at the Semperoper. For Daniele Gatti, Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, who has conducted Wagner's farewell work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Bayreuth Festival, among others, this is the first Parsifal at Richard Wagner's former place of work.
Subject to change.
Libretto by the Composer
In German with German and English surtitles
Premiere
March 22, 2026
According to a prophecy, only a "pure fool" will be able to renew the Grail community. Should this savior be Parsifal...?
Did Richard Wagner, when he first turned to redemption in The Flying Dutchman, already know that he would thereby find his artistic life's theme? In his last work, Parsifal, premiered in Bayreuth in 1882, not only an individual but all of society awaits a redeemer – sustained by the hope of one day meeting the One to whom this task falls. Parsifal can only do this when he has become "knowing through compassion." A process that lasts many years, perhaps a lifetime. But there are forces that try to hinder him on his path. Will Parsifal be willing to put himself at the service of the community? The stage consecration festival play Parsifal continues to overwhelm us today. Can art also contribute to redemption?
Floris Visser, who has directed productions in Amsterdam and Zurich, among others, is directing for the first time at the Semperoper. For Daniele Gatti, Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, who has conducted Wagner's farewell work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Bayreuth Festival, among others, this is the first Parsifal at Richard Wagner's former place of work.
Subject to change.