The end of this month will see the next offering in the 103rd season of the San Francisco Opera (SFO). As many readers probably know by now, Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim has made a commitment to conduct one opera by Giuseppe Verdi and one by Richard Wagner every season. The first of these, Rigoletto, opened the current season. The second will be Wagner’s final composition, Parsifal. For those that find the noun “composition” to be more than a little elusive, it is important to note that Wagner himself never described the work as an opera. Rather, as can be found on its Wikipedia page, he called the results of his effort Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel (a sacred festival stage play).
Set design by Robert Innes Hopkins for the forest setting of the first act of Parsifal (courtesy of SFO)
Like the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal is a major undertaking, even if it is only a single opera. It is set deep in a forest occupied by a band (some would call it a cult) of knights that serve the Holy Grail, defending it with a Holy Spear. Their king, Amfortas, was stabbed by the Holy Spear; and, at the beginning of the opera, his wound has not yet been healed. That wound is treated by Kundry, without the knights knowing that she is bound as a servant to Klingsor, who was responsible for the stabbing of Amfortas.
Parsifal’s first appearance can almost be called blundering. He has killed a swan and is carrying its limp body. The knights of the Grail, led by Gurnemanz, see this as an atrocity. However, Gurnemanz knows that Amfortas can only be healed by a “pure fool;” and he sees Parsifal as the embodiment of that fool.
This is the sort of narrative that demands a “willingness of disbelief” (or, as others would put it, “you can’t make this stuff [sic] up”)! The story unfolds at a pace far more gradual than that of the Ring; and, as in many productions, as well as the 1982 film by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, there have been any number of stories (mostly jokes) told about those that lacked patience for the unfolding.
That said, Kim has been consistently engaging in her past conducting experiences with Wagner’s music. Both last year’s performance of Tristan und Isolde and the preceding account of Lohengrin held my attention from beginning to end. As a result, I have every reason to expect that she will lead the pace of narrative in a manner consistent with the staging planned by Matthew Ozawa.
There should also be much to expect from the vocalists. The title role will be taken by tenor Brandon Jovanovich, who was particularly exciting in his San Francisco Opera account of Siegmund in Die Walküre. Brian Mulligan’s last encounter here with Wagner took place in the fall of 2023, when he sung the role of Friedrich of Telramund in Lohengrin. Finally, bass Kwangchul Youn will sing the role of Gurnemanz, having previously sung King Marke in last year’s Tristan. That leaves the pivotal role of Kundry, torn between healing Amfortas and serving Klingsor. She will be sung by mezzo Tanja Ariane Baumgartner.
Where Wagner is concerned, it tends to be useful to prepare the audience for the duration! The approximate running time of this SFO production will be four hours and 50 minutes, including two intermissions. This means that all performances will begin earlier than usual.
There will be five of them, two beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, and Sunday, November 2. The evening performances will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, Friday, November 7, and Thursday, November 13. Ticket prices range from $35 to $447. All tickets may be purchased in the outer lobby of the War Memorial Opera House at 301 Van Ness Avenue or by calling the Box Office at 415-864-3330. Box Office hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. on Monday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. In addition, there will be a livestream of the Sunday afternoon performance; the charge will be $25.
Web pages are available both for tickets to the Opera House and for the livestream. Finally, those going to the Opera House will have the option of purchasing dinner packages (which will be sold separately from the tickets for the performance). A single Web page has been created with hyperlinks for the different dinner options.
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