Re Steve Charitan's comments that ...

"Parsifal" is a tough "get" but once gotten it does not let go.  The trick,
if there is one to enchantment, is not to get too caught up in assumptions
about its religious or metaphysical trappings - the miracle of this music
is that *if you allow it*, it will provide the key to take you where you
want to go.

... all I have to say is "Yes! YESSS!!!".  Or in other words,
same for me.  A couple of decades ago, I had the privilege of
spending an hour or so with Father Owen Lee, just him and me,
discussing opera.  (The story of how that came about is a bit
amusing, but can wait for another time.)  Anyway, he asked me
whether I had a favourite opera; I immediately replied "yes",
and that it was Parsifal.  He looked a bit taken aback, and
asked why.  I found it very difficult to put the "why" into
words.  But hard though it may be to name one single work as
"my number one favourite", for me Parsifal is definitely the
clear winner.  And I still find it hard to explain why ...

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