Bayreuth Festival 2023: Parsifal

Any new production of Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival – in the theatre for which Wagner conceived his "Bühnenweihfestspiel" – is a major operatic event. But US director Jay Scheib's new staging for the 2023 Festival, which employs Augmented Reality, is likely to break new boundaries in terms of technological innovation – even for a theatre whose history is bound up with revolutionary theatrical ideas. Pablo Heras-Casado, making his Bayreuth debut, conducts a superb cast, with tenor Andreas Schager and mezzo Elīna Garanča – also making a highly anticipated Bayreuth debut as Kundry – leading the line-up alongside Georg Zeppenfeld's seasoned Gurnemanz.