He Wagner] has been much criticized for this strongly personal statement of a religious subject, which mingles the concepts of sacred and profane love; but in the light of modern knowledge, his insight into the relationship between religious and sexual experience can only seem much in advance of his time. -- Encylopaedia Britannica
Completed in 1882, Parsifal is Wagner's last opera and one of his finest, renowned for its splendid music and glowing orchestration. With its deeply personal treatment of the legend of the Holy Grail, and the subtle intensity and depth of compassion of its treatment of themes of innocence and purity, remorse and sexual renunciation, the opera ranks as one of Wagner's most symbolic, intense, and compassionate works.
This Dover edition reproduces every note of this glorious masterpiece from the authoritative C. F. Peters edition, including the list of characters and contents in both German and English. It will be welcomed by musicians, music lovers, opera buffs, and admirers of Wagner as the only complete, inexpensive edition of a 19th-century landmark.