Parsifal and the limits of paraphrasing an opera libretto

A review of Parsifal directed by Dimitri Cherniakov at the Berlin Staatsoper (premiere: 28.03.2015). The creators have bypassed the historical/religious aspect of the work, despite the fact that the play's premiere took place in the Easter holiday season and the content of Richard Wagner's musical drama ties in with the story of the sacrifice and redemption of Christ. In this interpretation Parsifal is an outsider, a rebel who undermines the operatic pathos of the work. The reviewer notes that the focus of the opera has been shifted to the fate of Kundry - the apocryphal heroine of the tale, and one of the composer's sources of inspiration