If you think the medieval, mystical Parceval myth that inspired Richard Wagner’s last opera is not for children, you couldn’t be more mistaken! Even Parceval was once a small boy who grew up in the care of his mother and whose desire to become a knight was initially met with massive resistance. “The idea of exploring the childhood of a hero appealed to me. How does a figure like Parceval become the Red Knight?” says composer Henrik Albrecht, who composed the children’s opera Ritter Parceval based on the musical motifs of Richard Wagner.

He was particularly interested in those situations that are only narrated or reported in Wagner’s opera: as a result, we encounter his helicopter mother Herzeloyde who is overprotective of her son and would like to hide forever in the deep forest. We experience how Klingsor steals the spear from Amfortas and tries to tempt Parceval to evil. Finally, we witness how the impetuous child matures into a responsible adult.

A story of human development that is as relevant today as it was hundreds of years ago. Hendrik Albrecht creates his own musical world using Wagnerian leitmotifs: “I use blocks that Wagner created. And he put together a really fantastic set of building blocks! But what I then build with the material from this set is completely in my hands, so that the result is ultimately mine.”