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Parsifal At The Vienna State Opera: A Set In Lieu Of A Production

Parsifal around Easter is a lovely tradition. Especially when enjoyed with a good friend. But not every production is worth keeping up with that tradition.

Indeed, architect Otto Wagner is cannibalized for all the sets, whether it’s a more or less straight reproduction of the St. Leopold church up above the Steinhof area or bastardizations of other Otto Wagner visuals. The Karlsplatz subway station entry is emblazoned not with its own name but with the typographic decoration “Die Zeit” which Wagner designed for the telegraph office of the former Viennese newspaper of that name. Why? Because “Die Zeit” is mentioned twice in the libretto in that act. That’s all the depth there’s to it. Catch it if you can; if not, you’re no worse off for it.

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