Bayreuth Festival
Wagner conceived the work in April 1857, but did not finish it until 25 years later. It was his last completed opera, and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. "Parsifal" was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on "Parsifal" productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.