Parsifal reconsidered: A provocative improvisation in Prague

State Opera Chorus

Timo Riihonen (Gurnemanz), Jiří Hájek (Amfortas)

Matthew Newlin (Parsifal), State Opera Chorus

Matthew Newlin (Parsifal), Ester Pavlů (Kundry)

Matthew Newlin (Parsifal) and flower maidens

Timo Riihonen (Gurnemanz), Matthew Newlin (Parsifal), Ester Pavlů (Kundry), Jiří Hájek (Amfortas)

By Frank Kuznik, 28 March 2026

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“Homoki... turns a spiritual quest into a meditation on decay, death and redemption”

Reviewed at State Opera (Státní opera), Prague on 26 March 2026

Wagner, Parsifal

Prague State Opera

Markus Poschner, Conductor

Andreas Homoki, Director

Frank Philipp Schlößmann, Set Designer

Hannah Clark, Costume Designer

Franck Evin, Lighting Designer

Prague State Opera Orchestra

Prague State Opera Chorus

Werner Hintze, Dramaturgy

Ondřej Hučín, Dramaturgy

Ester Pavlů, Kundry

Matthew Newlin, Parsifal

Bogdan Baciu, Amfortas

Jiří Hájek, Amfortas

Martin Bárta, Klingsor

Timo Riihonen, Gurnemanz

Barbora Perná, First Flowermaiden / First Group

Marie Svobodová, First Flowermaiden / Second Group

Yukiko Kinjo, Second Flowermaiden / First Group, Second squire

Stanislava Jirků, Second Flowermaiden / Second Group

Magdaléna Hebousse, Third Flowermaiden / First Group, First squire

Jana Sýkorová, A voice from on high

Josef Moravec, First knight of the Grail

Vít Šantora, Fourth squire

Marek Žihla, Third squire

Miloš Horák, Second knight of the Grail

Zuzana Kadlčíková, Choirmaster / chorus director

Pavel Vaněk, Choirmaster / chorus director

Prague National Theatre Opera, Cast

Prague Philharmonic Children's Choir

Prague National Theatre Opera Ballet

Calixto Bieito’s Idomeneo runs out of time in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 28th September

At the Prague State Opera, Calixto Brieito relocates Mozart's opera seria to modern times, with disastrous results.

***11

Reimann's Lear makes for a dark season finale at Prague State Opera

Frank Kuznik, 7th June

Aribert Reimann's Lear takes no prisoners in a disturbing portrayal of a world gone awry, but Barbora Horáková's scattergun direction adds to the confusion.

***11

A politically charged new Manon in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 27th March

Puccini's classic takes on a harsh contemporary edge in a dark treatment by director Sláva Daubnerová at Prague's National Theatre.

****1

A rambunctious Platée revival in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 23rd November

SKUTR's daring direction and Václav Luks's early music expertise combine to bring new vitality to a Baroque classic.

*****

To the apocalypse and beyond: Le Grand Macabre in Prague

David Karlin, 14th June

Nigel Lowery’s new production at Prague State Opera is a gusher of ideas, starting as slapstick but profoundly moving by the end.

****1

Nabucco in Prague: handsome but over-ambitious

Frank Kuznik, 21st March

Andriy Yurkevych leads a rousing musical performance, but this visually impressive Nabucco tries to hard to be relevant and misses the mark.

***11

More reviews...

Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.