Stanislav de Barberac as Parsifal lifting up Ekaterina Gubanova as Kundry (Image: ©2026 Marc Brenner)
Wagner’s Parsifal, which he took nearly 25 years to write, was his last opera. It lasts five and a half hours (including two intervals) and has a curious history. It’s first performance was in 1882, the year before Wagner died, and the composer decreed that it should only ever be performed at the Bayreuth Opera House whose acoustics were specifically taken into account in its composition.
The ban on other performances was maintained for 30 years by Wagner’s widow, until a court case in New York ruled that the United States was not covered by the copyright law and the Metropolitan Opera House could perform Parsifal. European copyright on staged performances expired at the end of 1913 and opera houses throughout the world raced to put it on. Parsifal is now seen by many as musically Wagner’s finest work.
The plot is based on 12th and 13th century stories of the Arthurian legend, which told of Percival (also known as Perzeval or Parsifal) who was one of the Knights of the Round Table responsible for the Quest for the Holy Grail and keeping it safe once it had been found. Wagner, as usual, embellished the ancient legends, portraying Parsifal as the only ‘pure fool’ who can save Amfortas, King of the Round Table Knights, from an incurable wound inflicted on him by the lance that pierced Christ’s body at the Crucifixion.
Christian Gerhaher as Amfortas as the knights queue to drink his blood (Image: ©2026 Marc Brenner)
The religious and philosophical zeal underlying the story combine powerfully with Wagner’s magnificently powerful music to set high demands on the performers whose efforts must be sustained throughout the epic length of the opera. This was achieved to perfection in all the leading roles of the current production.
The part of Parsifal was sublimely played by French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac, who began with a fine portrayal of the innocent fool as he stumbles across the Grail knights with the unforgivable act of shooting a swan, but develops into a true hero. His gloriously silky yet powerful voice matches the gradual change of his emotions, while also blending perfectly with the huge sound of the orchestra.
Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova was equally impressive as the temptress Kundry, who has an even rockier emotional journey than Parsifal. Starting as an untrustworthy emissary of the knights, she tries to seduce him and rid him of his innocence, but eventually succumbs to his purity and repents. The creation of this complex character, combining several women in Arthurian legend, is perhaps Wagner’s finest achievement in building the story-line, and Gubanova plays the part with complete conviction whether scheming, loving or shrieking with frustration. Her true, soprano-like high notes as particularly impressive.
The longest part in the opera is that of the elder knight Gurnemanz, played by British bass Brindley Sherratt to whom Wagner entrusts the role of explaining everything that is going on as well as the back story. Now in his 60s, Sherratt has recently taken on the role of Artistic Director of the Grange Festival, but his performance in Parsifal shows this is a new challenge rather than a retirement option. His controlled singing throughout showed that he still has the stamina for such a demanding role.
The last, but emotionally perhaps the most impressive of the main singers was German baritone Christian Gerhaher as Amfortas, the troubled King of the knights of the Grail, whose incurable bleeding wound has left him longing only for death. Every note sung by Gerhaher exhibited the anguish of Amfortas and the growing pain of his suffering.
With the orchestra of the Royal Opera conducted by their Music Director Jakub Hrůša delivering an inspiring performance of Wagner’s superb music, this all added up to a gripping performance, though this was not quite matched by the production itself under the imaginative Kazakhstani director Evgeny Titov.
With its origins in medieval Christian legend, modified by 19th century German philosophy, Parsifal poses many problems, but Titov’s solutions include drab sets and curious costumes as well as the knights having 20th century closed circuit surveillance techniques, AI animations of classic Christian paintings and, most striking of all, the Grail ritual depicted as the knights queueing to drink the blood oozing from Amfortas’s wound. These tend to distract rather than enlighten, but all the same the director and production team did not deserve the booing they received from certain sections of the audience at the final curtain. These Wagner purists are always very difficult to please.
Parsifal continues at the Royal Opera House until 17 October 2026. For details and tickets, see rbo.org.uk or phone 020 7304 4000.
