Wednesday 18 January at 18.45: Introduction by Gunnar Danbolt

Thursday 19 January at 18.45: Introduction by Gunnar Danbolt

Saturday 21 January at 15.15: Introduction by Erling E. Guldbrandsen

Richard Wagner's latest opera is full of magnificent music and has a plot inspired by both the medieval legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail as well as Christian, pagan and oriental themes. Now it is being performed for the first time in Bergen led by Edward Gardner, and with Stuart Skelton in the title role.

It is a unique event when Richard Wagner's brilliant, enigmatic and meditative musical testament, the opera Parsifal , is staged for the first time in Bergen. Regardless of the message conveyed in the myth of "the pure idiot" who in his naive belief is looking for the Holy Grail, the music is among the most captivating and sophisticated in the entire history of opera.

The work is the pinnacle of Wagner's vision of the absolute and perfect work of art (gesamtkunstwerk). Central themes are guilt, salvation and pity and charity, the redemptive qualities emphasized and enhanced by Wagner's brilliant music.

With its mix of Christian, pagan and oriental elements, the opera follows the medieval legend of the Knights of the Holy Grail. The knights find themselves in a critical situation as their leader, Amfortas, is seriously wounded.

They then turn to the unlikely hero Parsifal to get him to steal back the sacred spear Amfortas had when he was seduced and wounded by the bitter and former knight Klingsor. Along the way, Parsifal must fight the temptations of the flower girls and the manipulative Kundry. He learns more about his own past, and finally Parsifal emerges as the knights' savior.