What is "parsifal"

Parsifal ( WWV 111) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival ( Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12th century).

Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857 but did not finish it until twenty-five years later. It was Wagner's last completed opera and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on Parsifal productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Wagner described Parsifal not as an opera, but as "" ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage"). At Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that there be no applause after the first act of the opera.

Wagner's spelling of Parsifal instead of the Parzival he had used up to 1877 is informed by an erroneous etymology of the name Percival deriving it from a supposedly Persian origin, Fal Parsi meaning "pure fool".

Parsifal is a 1982 West German-French opera film directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, based on the opera of the same name by Richard Wagner. It was shown out of competition at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

The soundtrack is a complete performance of the opera; however the imagery used is a melange including medieval costume, puppetry, Nazi relics and a giant death mask of Richard Wagner. The Grail itself is represented by Wagner's Bayreuth Theatre and Parsifal's key transformation is portrayed with a change of actor to an androgynous but deliberately female suggesting form in order to achieve a union of male and female at the conclusion of Act II.

Parsifal is an 1882 opera by Richard Wagner.

Parsifal can also refer to:

• Parsifal (1904 film), directed by Edwin S. Porter
• Parsifal (1909 film), directed by Mario Caserini
• Parsifal (1912 film), directed by Mario Caserini
• The Evil Forest, or Parsifal (original title), a 1951 Spanish film directed by Daniel Mangrané
• To Parsifal, 1963 film by Bruce Baillie
• Parsifal (1982 film), directed by Brian Large
• Parsifal (1983 film), directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
• Parsifal (1993 film), starring Siegfried Jerusalem
• Parsifal (1993 film), directed by Brian Large
• Parsifal: The Search for the Grail, a 1997 film directed by Tony Palmer
• Parsifal (1999 film), starring Poul Elming
• Parsifal (2004 film), starring Christopher Ventris, sometimes listed as a 2007 film
• Parsifal (book), a 2009 book written by Jindřich Pokorný
• PARSIFAL Project EU, a European research project on critical financial infrastructure
• 2095 Parsifal, an asteroid

Parsifal is a 1904 American silent film produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and directed by Edwin S. Porter. It is based on the 1882 opera Parsifal by Richard Wagner, and stars Adelaide Fitz-Allen as Kundry and Robert Whittier as Parsifal.

The Parsifal was an express train that linked Paris with Dortmund in Germany and later Cologne. The train was named after Wagner's opera inspired by the legendary knight Percival.

Parsifal is a Belgian record label. It has worked with artists such as Red Zebra, Smokin' Joe Kubek, Studebaker John and Urbanus. It was formed in 1974 in Bruges by Nico A. Mertens and Gilda Behaeghel. The label mainly produces cabaret, folk and jazz, but also has sublabels for blues & roots (Double Trouble, Blue Sting) and Pop/ Rock ( Halu).