Parsifal is returning to the San Francisco Opera

Based on a 13th-century epic poem, Wagner’s last opera, Parsifal, tells the story of an Arthurian knight searching for the Holy Grail.

Beginning October 25, 2025, San Francisco Opera is performing Parsifal. Audience members and critics are praising the rarity and spiritual impact of experiencing Parsifal live after a 25-year absence from the company’s repertoire.

Parsifal premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, July 26, 1882. The Bayreuth opera venue was designed specifically for Wagner’s works.  Wagner designated Bayreuth as the exclusive venue for Parsifal performances until 1914, seeing it as a sacred act rather than ordinary theater. To this day, Bayreuth audiences traditionally refrain from applause after Act I. The opera’s spiritual aura influenced figures as diverse as Nietzsche, Debussy, and Thomas Mann, and directors continue to reinterpret it, from religious ritual to psychological allegory.

San Francisco Opera’s production, led by music director Eun Sun Kim and directed by Matthew Ozawa, is celebrated for both artistic ambition and a thoughtful, current perspective. Ozawa emphasizes Parsifal’s message of healing and compassion as particularly resonant in today’s world, describing the production as a shared theatrical ritual inviting transformation through empathy and art. Kim’s ongoing dedication to Wagner’s music has been highlighted in reviews and previews as bolstering the company’s prestige and adding extra anticipation around the staging.

In a statement, Ozawa said: “At a time when the world seems increasingly fractured, I believe Parsifal speaks directly to the crisis of disconnection so many of us feel. Its music and message reach into something primal—a longing for healing and meaning. As we participate together in this shared theatrical ritual, may we be reminded of the possibility of transformation—through empathy, through compassion, and through art.” (via Operawire)

The YouTube version of the Parsifal Prelude shared here was performed at the Bayreuth Festival in 1964 under the direction of Hans Knappertsbusch. This performance is one of the most renowned interpretations of Wagner’s final opera and has been preserved in several complete recordings and individual releases.

View texts from Parsifal, as set and written by Richard Wagner, on IPA Source:

• Parsifal
  • Amfortas! Die Wunde! by Wagner, Richard
  • Auf Ewigkeit wärst du verdammt by Wagner, Richard
  • Grausamer! by Wagner, Richard
  • Ho! Ihr Wächter! Ho! Ritter! by Wagner, Richard
  • Ich sah das Kind am seiner Mutter Brust by Wagner, Richard
  • Mein Vater! Hochgesegneter der Helden by Wagner, Richard
  • Nur eine Waffe taugt by Wagner, Richard
  • O Gnade! Höchstes Heil! by Wagner, Richard
  • O wunden-wundervoller heiliger Speer by Wagner, Richard
  • Titurel, der fromme Held by Wagner, Richard
  • Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen by Wagner, Richard

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Image, Parsifal, via Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.