Parsifal ( Teatro Massimo )

In this Parsifal, the myth of the Holy Grail is woven into real-life events. Director Graham Vick turns Richard Wagner's latest opera into a parable of the suffering of those who flee war and poverty to cross the Mediterranean in search of refuge in Europe. Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber makes a successful debut as music director in Palermo.

King Amfortas is the guardian of the Grail and the Holy Spear, supreme relics of the Passion of Christ. He leads a brotherhood of chaste knights who have dedicated their lives to fighting for righteousness. During a battle, the treacherous Klingsor stole the Holy Spear from him, inflicting a wound that won’t heal. Will the "pure fool" Parsifal manage to retrieve the spear and relieve Amfortas of his suffering?

Richard Wagner composed Parsifal during a long stay in Palermo. In January 2020, this monumental work returns to its Sicilian homeland, directed by Graham Vick and conducted by Omer Meir Wellber who, at 38 years of age, has been Teatro Massimo's music director since the beginning of the 2020 season.

According to Omer Meir Wellber, everything in Wagner's music must be given a certain weight and substance. For him, the Palermo production provides an opportunity to unharness Wagner from his obsession with mythology and religion, and Graham Vick's staging reflects this approach with its echoes of current political events. For when Interior Minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini decided to close all the Italian ports to migrant boats, the Sicilian port city of Palermo opposed the orders emanating from Rome. At the Teatro Massimo, the Wagnerian mythology of salvation is a parable of the journey that leads from conflict zones to freedom.