Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Lohengrin (1848)
Lohengrin – David Butt Philip (tenor)
Elsa – Malin Byström (soprano)
King Heinrch – Georg Zeppenfeld (bass-baritone)
Telramund – Martin Gantner (baritone)
Ortrud – Anja Kampe (soprano)
Herald – Attila Mokus (baritone)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera/Christian Thielemann
Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito, stage directors
rec. live, 2024 Vienna State Opera
Unitel 769408 DVD [2 discs: 208]
There’s a semi-interesting idea in the Vienna State Opera’s new production of Lohengrin, first seen in Salzburg at the 2022 Osterfestspiele; but it it’s half-interesting then it’s also half-baked, and doesn’t end up going anywhere particularly fulfilling.
It’s that Elsa is, in fact, guilty of her brother’s murder. When the curtain rises during the Act 1 prelude, we see Elsa disposing of Gottfried in a canal. Ortrud watches it all unseen, however, and thus she and Telramund are the ones telling the truth against Elsa’s deceit. At the end, when Gottfried reappears from the canal, his appearance bears a striking resemblance to that of Lohengrin (for reasons that, I confess, elude me) and he kills his sister with Lohengrin’s sword.
As I said, it is semi-interesting, although directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito don’t even seem convinced by their own concept, however. They touch on it intermittently throughout the performance, but if they’d dropped it completely then it wouldn’t have made much difference to how the drama plays out. The setting looks like Wilhelmine Germany, all the acts playing out on the same multi-tiered set, and Lohengrin in his medieval chainmail and long flowing locks looks completely out of place among the chorus of soldiers, nurses and housewives. That reinforces his role as an outsider, but the whole concept of the guilty Elsa undermines his role pretty fundamentally. As my colleague Jim Pritchard remarked when he reviewed the live stream from the Staatsoper, why on earth would the Grail send Lohengrin to protect Elsa if she’s a cold-blooded murderess?
Happily, the musical side of things is much more satisfying. Christian Thielemann understands better than almost anyone alive today how to shape Wagner’s huge paragraphs, and the orchestra of the Staatsoper know and trust him well enough that they fulfil every part of his vision. All three preludes sound sensational for completely different reasons (light, darkness, celebration), and the big ensemble scenes are paced with a rare combination of tightness and freedom. The big bridal procession of Act 2, in particular, sounds as if it couldn’t and shouldn’t go any other way.
The cast of singers have total confidence in their conductor and orchestra, and they sing their socks off for them. David Butt Philip is a sensational swan knight. He gets right inside the tessitura, bringing ringing heroism to Act 1, gentle vulnerability to the bridal chamber scene, and wounded dignity to the Grail Monologue. He also sings quietly with stunning fulness, achieving a spine-tingling pianissimo on his “Heil dir, Elsa” in Act 2. If only we could hear this wonderful tenor singing more in his native Britain.
Malin Byström’s is a complex voice. It’s a very full soprano, but not a particularly rich one so this isn’t an Elsa in which to luxuriate. It’s driven by tremendous drama, though: every breath, every pause and clause are used to further the dramatic incident, which is perfect for this sort of konzept-Lohengrin. She gets the ambiguity just right in her Act 1 prayer, where there’s a suggestion that she is hiding something, and her address to the breezes in Act 2 is a long way from being uncorrupted innocence. She also brings dramatic excitement to the bridal chamber, showing that this Elsa is no mere ingénue.
Anja Kampe is very much a soprano Ortrud, so some of the role’s darker colours elude her. She sounds pretty stretched during Entweihte Götter, and has to gasp for a few breaths too many times to get through it. Still, she’s a searing performer, and she brings out the best in Martin Gantner, whose Telramund is a little thin to start with but grows and builds during Act 2. Georg Zeppenfeld sounds great as the king, though he looks perpetually either furious or astonished. Attila Mokus makes a fine Herald, and the chorus sing with all the power and accuracy that you’d expect at this address.
If you want a Vienna Lohengrin that you could watch again and again then you’re probably better to stick with Wolfgang Weber’s ultra-traditional production that still has a lot going for it, not least the marvellous singing in the 1990 DVD with Domingo and Studer. This recent one is worth it for the singing, but next time I think I’ll play it with the TV turned off.
Simon Thompson
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Technical details
Picture format: NTSC, 1080i/16:9; Sound format: PCM Stereo/DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Sung in German; Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish Korean, Japanese
