A young man ignorant of everything, including his own name, arrives at the Kingdom of the Holy Grail. Is he the ‘pure fool, enlightened by compassion’, who, it has been prophesied, will purify the realm? In his final music drama Parsifal, Wagner fashions the fear of the temptations and sinful desires into a tale of redemption. The score contrasts the sacred with the sensual, from the stark magnificence of the music for the procession to the Grail Hall in Act I to the richly orchestrated scene in which Kundry attempts to seduce Parsifal in Act II. There are sections of almost unearthly beauty such as the Act I Prologue and the closing scene of the opera, in which Parsifal reveals the Grail to the knights. OperaVision viewers discover András Almási-Tóth’s new production conducted by Balázs Kocsár live at its premiere on Good Friday at Hungarian State Opera.
The wealthy Argan ‘enjoys’ poor health. Even though his daughter is in love with another man, he wants to marry her off to a medical dunce who can secure a lifetime of medical care for his father-in-law. A fake death scene finally teaches Argan where to put his trust. Following the success of his previous works, this is the fourth opera by János Vajda to be staged at the Hungarian State Opera. Based on both Moliere's Le malade imaginaire and Mikhail Bulgakov's play about the French playwright, Vajda's new opera incorporates Moliere's life story, giving bass-baritone András Hábetler the rare opportunity to play the dual roles of Argan and Moliere.
