Something is rotten in the state of the Grail knights. Their king Amfortas has lost the Holy Spear to the fiend Klingsor. Amfortas is crushed with shame and his wound festers horribly without killing him. In the midst of this ailing world, young Parsifal appears and the Grail knights make him their champion.

Trials and temptations ensue for the pure-hearted Parsifal who finally retrieves the Holy Spear, the cause and the cure of Amfortas’ wound. Amfortas may now die and Parsifal take his place as king.

German director Michael Thalheimer sees Parsifal as the “wound” of bidding farewell to the world. The world must bid farewell to the Grail knighthood and the knights to their past and their worldly works. Jonathan Nott already has a legendary performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Lucerne Festival under his belt. With the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and some of the best Wagner singers of the day, they embark on the great spiritual journey that is Parsifal.