Parsifal

"Perfect Wagnerite that he is, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, could hardly have passed up the chance to consecrate his company's new stage with the master's ultimate mystery play.  A New York music critic turned impresario, Mr. Jenkins has, during his two decade tenure, built his company into one of the great Wagner shrines of the world."

—Matthew Gurewitsch, Wall Street Journal,
    "Seattle Opera House: From Brick Box to Jewel Box,"
    August 28, 2003

"The acoustics revealed in Parsifal's first magical floating bars is exquisite."

—Jochen Breiholz, Die Welt,
    "Seattle Opera opens its new hall with Parsifal,"
    September 10, 2003 (translated from original German)

"And from the start the voices of the strong cast came through vividly."

—Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times,
    "Seattle Opera Gamble: The Results Are In,"
    August 5, 2003

"There wasn't a weak spot anywhere in the cast.  In fact, this is one of the best-cast Wagnerian productions in the company's history."

—Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times,
    "Opening Knight," August 4, 2003

"...an astonishing coup drew gasps at the end of Act 2, when the five-level tower of the sorcerer Klingsor was suddenly inhaled into the stage floor."

—Mike Dunham, Anchorage Daily News,
    "Seattle’s New Jewel," August 10, 2003

"[Conductor Asher] Fisch created a long, sinuous line and some of the most beautiful and effortless sonorities I have ever heard from the pit."

—R.M. Campbell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
    "Parsifal at McCaw Hall is extraordinary," August 4, 2003

"One and all—as well as the celestial choruses placed above and behind the stage, so the singing sounded as if from heaven—had well earned the standing, shouting ovations at the opera's final curtain"

—Carole Beers, King County Journal,
    "New Seattle opera house helps Wagner’s Parsifal reach
    near perfection," August 4, 2003