Wagner’s last opera, Parsifal, which the composer declared to be his 'farewell to the world' has been described as being in many ways the most 'total' of all his 'total art works'. His spiritual swansong unfurls as a slow-moving, ritualistic drama, and is arguably the best-suited of all his operas to the style of concert staging offered here. Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, at the 2013 BBC Proms, it features dramatic spatial placing of off-stage choruses and musicians alongside soloists of the very highest calibre. The recording is released on the occasion of Sir Mark Elder’s 70th birthday.

The audio has been re-mastered by Hallé’s award-winning engineer Steve Portnoi: the original multitrack recordings of both rehearsals and concert were edited to eliminate audience noise whilst retaining the sense of place and the staged nature of the performance. The edited multitrack was then remixed to achieve a sound in keeping with Hallé label releases.