This film was prepared as a introduction to a series of opera broadcasts on German television. It depicts the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings in preparation for the annual opera festival in Bayreuth.

The Transformation of the World Into Music

Wolfgang Wagner's Bayreuth production of his grandfather's 'farewell to the world'has 'an unusual beauty and logic of its own ... with a double stress - on nature undefiled and on a form of religious symbolism ... There is an air of magic and mystery about the staging ... The performance was excellent ... Horst Stein conducted a beautifully proportioned Parsifal'. New York Times