The Met assembled an ideal cast for François Girard’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s final masterpiece: Jonas Kaufmann in the title role of the fool “made wise by compassion”, René Pape as Gurnemanz, the veteran Knight of the Grail, Katarina Dalayman as Kundry, Peter Mattei is Amfortas, the anguished ruler of the Grail’s kingdom, and Evgeny Nikitin sings the evil magician Klingsor.

这是一部非常风格化的作品，主角是一名年轻的威尔士骑士，他来到一处神秘的古堡，在那里他见到了圣杯的幻像，但他自己却没有意识到；次日清晨，古堡人去楼空，骑士继续出行，当他猛然醒悟到自己看到了圣杯再回去时，古堡已经消失，于是他只能继续他的圣杯寻访之旅。影片完全在摄影棚内拍摄，布景故意做得很“假”，而且台词和动作多有重复，颇有一点曲艺的效果。

Plot Summary for Parsifal (1982) Richard Wagner's last opera has remained controversial since its first performance for its unique, and, for some, unsavory blending of religious and erotic themes and imagery. Based on one of the medieval epic romances of King Arthur and the search for the holy grail (the chalice touched by the lips of Christ at the last supper), it recounts over three long acts how a "wild child" unwittingly invades the sacred precincts of the grail, fulfilling a prophecy that only such a one can save the grail's protectors from a curse fallen upon them. Interpreters of the work have found everything from mystical revelation to proto-fascist propaganda in it. Hans-Jurgen Syberberg's production doesn't avoid either aspect, but tries synthesize them by seeking their roots in the divided soul of Wagner himself. The action unfolds on a craggy landscape which turns out to be a gigantic enlargement of the composer's death mask, among deliberately tatty theatrical devices: puppets, scale models, magic-lantern projections. The eponymous hero is sung by the specified tenor voice (Reiner Goldberg) but mimed on screen by a male and a female performer alternately, reflecting what the director takes to be the creator's own sexual conflicts. Syberberg's pacing, dictated by the majestic pace of Wagner's score, is slow, but enlivened by constant subtle shifts in point of view, and memorable performances by actress Edith Clever as the villainess/heroine Kundry (sung by Yvonne Minton), orchestra conductor Armin Jordan as the remorseful knight Amfortas (sung by Wolfgang Schoene), and Robert Lloyd (the faithful retainer Gurnemanz). Summary written by Roger Downey

A psychological interpretation of the opera mixing in references to the history of Germany, Wagner’s life, German literature and philosophy. The action is centered on Wagner’s death mask. Kundry is the main character – one might read the film as the story of her redemption rather than that of Amfortas.

Brave hero Parsifal, orphan and raised among wolves, must recover the Holy Grail from the hands of the evil wizard Klingsor, a Barbarian chieftain who killed his father, and thus save the wounded Amfortas, ruler of the Grail kingdom. Kundria, a beautiful and seductive houri, and even the Seven Deadly Sins will try to stop Parsifal and his noble quest.

德国电视台WDR根据著名的中世纪骑士长篇小说《帕西法尔》（Parzival）改编了影片，其改编大胆，造型和风格怪异。原著作者为Wolfram von Eschenbach，传说写于13世纪，讲述了年轻人帕西法尔（Parzival）寻找圣杯的历程以及自我成长的过程，其中涉及中世纪圆桌骑士、亚瑟王等诸多故事。瓦格纳也曾将这部骑士小说改编成歌剧。

这是一幅展现瓦格纳一生及其作品的宏大画卷，从1848年革命前开始，历经他在瑞士的流亡生涯，到被痴迷于他的巴伐利亚国王路德维希二世拯救，直至在拜罗伊特迎来最终的辉煌。瓦格纳激进的音乐和政治理念、他的德国民族主义，乃至他的反犹主义，都被置于他所处的时代背景中进行呈现。

A huge panorama of Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 Revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria to the final triumph at Bayreuth. Wagner's radical musical and political ideas, his German nationalism and even his anti-Semitism are set in the context of his life and times.