Dealing with values >>> ‘Parzival’ conference with Swiss premiere of ‘Parzival and Feirefiz’ at the Goetheanum

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 5 May 2023

Empathy with the world around us, dealing with loneliness and acting responsibly are challenges we face today as human beings. Wolfram von Eschenbach anticipated them in his Epic of Parzival. The Humanities Section at the Goetheanum is exploring this early approach to dealing with acquired and developed values in the field of tension between East and West.

As part of our socialization, we continually absorb values that need to be tested, expanded or abandoned as we gain life experience. Christiane Haid, head of Humanities and Visual Arts at the Goetheanum, discovers topical issues in Wolfram von Eschenbach‘s epic poem ‘Parzival’: “Parzival‘s experiences have become new challenges in our time – learning to meet oneself and one‘s environment with empathy (moving away from ‘guilelessness’), enduring failure and isolation (dealing with ‘doubts’) and finally – after errors and inner struggles – arriving at a place where self and world come together (‘salvation’)”. On this basis the originally ‘guileless fool’ grows into a free individual, who is able to take on responsibility and lead a community.

Following the production of Richard Wagner‘s ‘Parsifal’ by Jasmin Solfaghari in the spring of 2023, it is now Wolfram von Eschenbach‘s ‘Parzival’ that serves to explore the human being and the human potential for inner development at the Goetheanum. The medieval images and scenes in Eschenbach‘s oeuvre are centred on the Grail. Its multiple layers will be the subject of the conference ‘Parzival‘s Quest for the Grail’ at the Goetheanum, where science and the arts will come together in an interdisciplinary approach.

The composition ‘Parzival and Feirefiz. A new Grail Story’, for strings and percussion with solo voice, violin and African drum, conducted by Emmanuel Vukovich, is a new interpretation that focuses on the values of collaboration, community and wholeness, combining different musical languages in an intercultural ensemble; some aspects of biographical experiences are presented by the Goetheanum Eurythmy Ensemble in its programme ‘Traces’.

(2068 characters/SJ; English by Margot M. Saar)

Conference Parzival‘s Quest for the Grail, 26 to 29 May 2023, Goetheanum
Premiere Parzival and Feirefiz, 26 May 2023, 8 pm, Goetheanum
Exhibition Striving Parzival, Suffering Anfortas, pictures by painters from Hungary and Switzerland, 10 to 29 May 2023, Goetheanum

Contact person Nicolas Gadacz