Richard Wagner, Ravello Music Festival Italy and Parsifal

Kiss from Italy was wonderful. The phrase Il magico giardino di Klingsor è trovato, now immort­al­ised on a stone plaque on the Villa Rufolo wall in Ravello, was what German composer Richard Wag­ner (1813-83) stated in 1880 after vis­iting its luscious gardens over­looking the sea. Meaning the magical garden of Klingsor has been found, the phrase was scripted by the composer in Alb­er­go Palumbo’s guest­book, referring to his visit to Villa Rufolo. It was an important state­ment: Wag­ner’s ex­cite­ment after visiting the Vil­la’s gardens led to the com­position of a portion of his final opera, Parsifal.

Years later, his gratitude towards the town of Ravello inspired a re­turn of appreciation with the creation of a summer music festival in his hon­our. The internationally acclaimed Ravello Music Festival aka Wagner Festiv­al has hosted a fine array of talent eg London Symph­ony Orchestra and St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; cond­uctors eg Daniel Barenboim and Zubin Mehta; and famous jazz players. The festival runs from June to mid-Sept every year.

Wagner’s wife Cosima maintained a diary that documented their visit to the Amalfi Coast. In it she described the long ascent to Ravello by mule where they were enchanted by the recent renov­at­ion of Villa Rufolo as handled by Sir Francis Neville Reed; he had hired Michele Ruggiero, head of excavations at Pompeii, to restore the C13th Villa to its original splendour.

Wagner actually began composing the opera Parsifal in 1857, almost 20 years before be visited Ravello. During those 20 years of artistic quiet, he comp­os­ed the opera Tristan and Isolde and all 4 instalments of the Ring Cycle, but remained stuck on how to craft the second and most important act of his opera, Parsifal. Once he saw the gard­ens at Villa Rufolo, everything changed. The second act was set in a mag­ic­al garden inspired by that exact spot, and Parsifal debuted less than two years later at Bayreuth in Bavaria.

 Richard Wagner sculpture, Venice

Villa Rufolo overlooks the famous Piazza del Vescovado, and is located just off of Viale Richard Wagner through a dramatic arch­ed entrance way. Enter Villa Rufolo and slowly explore the tower and museum, though the greatest attraction is the garden. Overlook the cool blue of the sea and hear the sounds of an orch­estra preparing for the evening’s Ravello Music Festival concert.

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Wagner might have wondered why celebrities, artists and tour­­ists continue to make the pilgrim­age there still. The town is nestled high above the Amalfi coast in the southern Salerno Prov­ince. It is a UNESCO World Her­it­age Site that has fam­ously served as a haven for artists, music­ians and intellectuals eg DH Lawrence, Salvador Dalí, Greta Garbo and Humphrey Bogart. 

Although it is close to the Amalfi Coast, Ravello is not located right on the water so reach this beautiful scenic town by heading inland c3 ks. Ravello is perched on a great spur of rock, c350 meters above the Mediterranean Sea. Constructed on the site of a settlement be­lieved to have been built by a Roman colony fleeing from the barbarian invasions, Ravello was chosen by a group of noble families from Amalfi who, in the C9th, rebelled against the authority of the Doge.

The tower originally served as a wat­chtower for Villa Rufolo, the very important architectural master­piece that contrib­ut­ed so much to Rav­el­lo's int­ernational fame. After all, it was Villa Rufolo that so in­spired Wag­ner’s Parsifal. The villa was built in the late C13th by the powerful Rufolo fam­ily. The Norman-looking building has towers, cl­ois­ters and rows of arches, the grounds of the villa are gorgeous and the cliff-edge terrace has the best sea views anywhere!