The psychological, mythical, and mystical possibilities of such a story are obvious, and Wagner’s accomplishment results in an air of reverence that surrounds this piece. The opera tells the tale of a young man who is destined to renew a brotherhood of knights charged with guarding the relics of Christ’s last days. The composer preferred to call his mature works “music dramas” to distinguish them from “conventional” opera, but he set Parsifal even further apart by naming it a Bühnenweihfestspiel, a “festival play for the consecration of a stage”-the stage in question being that of the Bayreuth Festival House. Premiere: Bayreuth Festival House, 1882. Wagner’s final opera is a musical journey unlike any other. Evelyn Herlitzius is Kundry, and Peter Mattei and René Pape bring back their highly praised interpretations of Amfortas and Gurnemanz, respectively. Tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, renowned across Europe, returns to the Met following his appearances in the 2016–17 season as Florestan in Fidelio. Met Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Wagner’s transcendental score, in François Girard’s remarkable production, a mystical theatrical journey.

Metropolitan opera schedule 2018