12-23 March 2005. Conducted by Marcello Viotti, directed by Denis Krief, with Wolfgang Schone, Ulrich Dunnebach, Matthias Holle, Ian Storey.

The Teatro La Fenice in Venice also addresses the relationship with the divine but in a dimension less anxiety-ridden and less pessimistic. Parsifal by Richard Wagner will be performed 12-23 March. Amfortas, the head of the Knights of the Holy Grail, is racked by torment and suffering because he has given in to the pleasures of the flesh; but then Parsifal arrives, the pure fool, who has compassion and saves him. The love that redeems is one of the main themes of Wagners poetic repertoire, already expressed in Gtterdmmerung. But with Parsifal this form of love assumes aspects of evangelical piety. Parsifal was Wagners last opera and is taken as his spiritual testament, with inspired music and a script of a clear Christian message that also contains elements of Buddhist spirituality. It is an apt work to perform so close to Easter and in Venice in particular, where it will mark the death of Marcello Viotti in mid-February. His unexpected passing is a great loss, leaving Parsifal without a conductor and La Fenice without a musical director. Paolo Di Nicola