The reviews are in for Evgeny Titov’s new production of Parsifal, which opened at the Royal Opera House on 1 October with the company’s music director, Jakub Hrůša, in the pit. It is Titov’s first production for the Royal Opera, and it places Wagner’s final opera among the concrete bunkers and surveillance screens of Etienne Pluss’s set, with Stanislas de Barbeyrac in the title role, Ekaterina Gubanova as Kundry, Brindley Sherratt as Gurnemanz and Mark Stone as Klingsor. On the music the critics speak with one voice. Hrůša and the orchestra are praised in every review we could read in full, and Christian Gerhaher’s anguished Amfortas is singled out by The Guardian, Bachtrack and theartsdesk alike. The staging is where they part: Bachtrack finds its restraint a winning strategy and theartsdesk calls it depressing but compelling, while The Guardian describes a vision that “explains as little as possible” and London Unattached one that manages to “infuriate, entertain and provide insight in equal measure”.
The verdict: six reviews in so far. Four carry a rating: one five-star notice and three four-star, an average of 4.3 out of 5. London Unattached gives no critic’s score, and the Financial Times sits behind a paywall. Every critic whose review we could read in full praises Jakub Hrůša and the orchestra; Titov’s dystopian staging is the one thing they argue about.
What are critics saying about Parsifal?
Bachtrack
"Musically sublime dystopia"
Reviewer: David Karlin
"The music of Parsifal is up there with the all-time greats, but its story and ideas are abhorrent – even the Royal Opera programme describes them as “questionable” and “problematic”. How to present such a piece? The answer in Evgeny Titov’s new production would appear to be “less is more”: don’t mess with the story, don’t add your own opinions, just give the audience enough visual material to keep them interested, make them believe in the emotions of the characters and leave the rest to the music and its magic."
The Guardian
"bunkers, CCTV and fembots in elusive vision of Wagner’s mystical masterpiece"
Reviewer: Flora Willson
"Brindley Sherratt was a moody, complicated Gurnemanz – some nasty high notes standing out against his granite lower register – but his storytelling was as compelling as ever. Ekaterina Gubanova was a constantly shapeshifting Kundry, her tone reactive, from shrieks to quasi-speech, via finely sculpted phrases that seemed to skim the orchestra’s surface. Mark Stone’s Klingsor managed to be both oleaginous and fierce, James Platt’s Titurel appropriately stentorian. Stanislas de Barbeyrac wielded his gleaming steel of a voice on the title role, his earlier fragmentary mode blossoming into potent, supple declamation in the final scene. But it is Christian Gerhaher’s appalling, wild-eyed Amfortas that makes this production a must-see. In this bleak portrayal of self-obsession, every note he sang oozed misery, every phrase felt unmissable."
theartsdesk
"unholy rituals, as usual, but a hero's life compels"
Reviewer: David Nice
"Parsifal's task, it seems, is to bring a salvation of sorts to those who could not die. So after a terrifyingly angry chorus - magnificent throughout - his last duty is, as dramaturg Janine Ortiz's synopsis tells us, to bring Amfortas's suffering to an end with the "wonder-working" spear. Left on stage with Gerhaher's physically and vocal extraordinary sinner (pictured above), de Barbeyrac faces a last massive challenge - and seals a truly great performance. Titov's interpretation may be flawed, and occasioned predictable boos during the curtain calls, but it asks as much of the singer-actors as Hrůša does of the orchestra. I look forward to seeing what this singular director does next."
London Unattached
"A Bloody Dystopian Parsifal"
Reviewer: Dr Adrian York
"New Wagner productions are always a contested space, with online wars of words already being fought about this one. Parsifal is so complex symbolically that it is open to multiple interpretations. I’m a bit tired of endless operatic dystopias, but Titov’s dreamlike Parsifal manages to infuriate, entertain and provide insight in equal measure. Hrusa, the singers and band won plaudits from the audience for their work on what, despite any caveats, is still an essential evening of opera."
Also reviewed by: The Stage (George Hall, four stars, "Extraordinarily high standard of vocalism") and the Financial Times ("Parsifal — Evgeny Titov’s dark new production is met with cheers and boos"), whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
Production photographs by Marc Brenner.
For more of this week’s verdicts, read our roundups of Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at @sohoplace.
Parsifal runs at the Royal Opera House until 17 October 2026.
