Every new production of Parsifal in Bayreuth is a special event, as it was written specifically with the Bayreuth acoustic in mind. In summer 2016, director Uwe Eric Laufenberg presented his reading of Wagner’s Bühnenweihfestspiel, transposing it to a region bordering Iraq, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan – in other words, to the very heart of today’s religious wars. The cast boasted Klaus Florian Vogt as a silvery yet clarion-toned Parsifal, the fabulous Elena Pankratova as Kundry, the “Rose from Hell”, rich-voiced Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz, Ryan McKinny with his burnished baritone as Amfortas and Gerd Grochowski in one of his last major roles as Klingsor. The New York Times was full of praise: “Sensitive, visually arresting … With an excellent cast and the conductor Hartmut Haenchen drawing radiant sound and striking transparency from the festival orchestra, this was a sublime and provocative Parsifal.”

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Music Director: Hartmut Haenchen
Director: Uwe Eric Laufenberg
Set Designer: Gisbert Jäkel
Costumes: Jessica Karge
Lighting: Reinhard Traub
Video Designer: Gérard Naziri
Video Director: Michael Beyer

Amfortas: Ryan McKinny
Titurel: Karl-Heinz Lehner
Gurnemanz: Georg Zeppenfeld
Parsifal: Klaus Florian Vogt
Klingsor: Gerd Grochowski
Kundry: Elena Pankratova
Erster Gralsritter: Tansel Akzeybek
Zweiter Gralsritter: Timo Riihonen
Erster Knappe: Alexandra Steiner
Zweiter Knappe: Mareike Morr
Dritter Knappe: Charles Kim
Vierter Knappe: Stefan Heibach
Klingsors Zaubermädchen: Anna Siminska, Katharina Persicke, Mareike Morr, Alexandra Steiner, Bele Kumberger, Ingeborg Gillebo
Stimme aus der Höhe: Wiebke Lehmkuhl