In Simon O'Neill New Zealand has a world class Parsifal. It is hard to believe that he was singing the role for the first time, as his performance is already accomplished. He possesses a true Heldentenor voice, with a rich, warm baritone quality in the lower registers combined with a clarion, ringing top. He demonstrated a complete understanding of the text, moving from innocent fool to enlightened redeemer with effortless ease. This auspicious debut is surely the beginning of an illustrious career in this repertoire.

Donald McIntyre makes a welcome return to New Zealand to sing Gurnemanz and even at 71 shows that he is still the master in this repertoire. His beautiful voice shows no sign of deterioration and he brings humility and vocal finesse to the benevolent knight.

Margaret Medlyn's Kundry is truly world class. The role sits ideally for her voice and her commanding stage presence and acting abilities combine to bring the multi faceted Kundry to life. Her scenes with Parsifal in Act II were a tour de force, moving from seductress to venom spitting charlatan with spine chilling authority.

Paul Whelan's expressively sung Amfortas showed that Wagner singing can and should be much more than sheer volume of sound. He brought a lieder-like quality to his portrayal, placing particular emphasis on the text, as Wagner would surely have desired.

Rounding out the principal artists, Martin Snell brought his experience from Bayreuth giving an incisive performance of Klingsor and Grant Dixon was a strong voiced Titurel.

Bernd Benthaak's production makes no particular statement about the work, but allows the story to be told simply and honestly. The action is played out on a small raised platform behind the orchestra, with two screens providing atmospheric counterpoint to the action, although the rather vague nature of the projections did little to add to the drama. While there was little in the way of magic or spectacle, there were still many moments that placed the production closer to fully staged than semi-staged.

The costumes are similarly low key in concept. The knights are dressed in quasi-generic army outfits, although there seems to be no particular reason why this style has been chosen. Only Kundry's appearance in Acts I seems ill-considered, where the libretto calls for a dishevelled look rather than Desperate Housewives' chic.

But it is the music that is at the heart of Parsifal and this was a performance that shone in this respect. The performance received a well-deserved standing ovation, with warm applause for Donald McIntyre making what is likely to be his last performance on stage in his home country. A glittering evening and an important landmark in the history of opera performance in New Zealand.