As I do all of Wagner's music and operas, I love Lohengrin. It may not be my favourite Wagner, but I have always felt actually that some of his most beautiful music is in Lohengrin. For productions of this opera, my favourite is the one from 1982 with Peter Hofmann and Karan Armstrong. The Met, Placido Domingo, Baden-Baden and Paul Frey productions are also very good. Faring least is the Bayreuth production from 2011, the Lohengrin, King Henry and Ortrud are superb as are the musical values, but weird production values and an underwhelming Elsa and Telramund brought things down for me.
Under review here is the 2012 performance from La Scala. If I were to rank it anywhere, it would be tied with the 2009 Kaufmann and Harteros production(which was overall decent but not great, the leads were certainly more than great though) as better than 2011 Bayreuth but under(but in a rather distant placing) Frey's. The overall production is far from perfect, but there are so many things that redeem it that it is enough for me to give it an acceptable pass.
I can understand though if people may not like the production. By this, I do mean that visually it is very perplexing. Claus Guth is one of those stage directors who has some interesting ideas, but all too often he gives a concept that adds little to the story or the words or the music. Unfortunately I did find that to be the case with his Lohengrin. It does deserve some credit for not being as (rather) ugly as 2009 or as weird as Bayreuth, but in regard to the production values I really do prefer a very fairy-tale-like traditional setting. The terraced block and reed-bed at least didn't look cheap and gave some indication of a time and place, but again it raises the question of whether it adds anything to the story and music, for me it didn't.
The staging I was mixed on. Mostly it was not bad at all, most of the very crucial scenes have the dramatic impact they ought to do. Albeit there are some very questionable touches, which is often the case with Guth's opera productions so I was sort of expecting this. The swan is a large part of the story, and it made little sense as well as being a mistake to have it absent in the production. In all fairness though, the swan has rarely looked good or been staged well in performance, on almost all of the Lohengrin DVDs available the presentation of the swan has often been one of the weak points of the respective production. But the two touches that bothered me were the whole business with the piano, which for my tastes confused the story and make the characters behave in ways that jarred with what they were singing about, and the idea to make Lohengrin rather dysfunctional, which I didn't see the point of at all.
Getting my problems with the visuals and staging out of the way, I do consider the musical aspects of an opera production to be the lager part of its appeal. In this Lohengrin, the musical aspects are just phenomenal. Rarely in an opera production from recent years have I seen music played and sung so consistently with not a weak link to speak of. Wagner's music is and always has been out of this world, and the production does nothing to change that perception. The orchestral playing throughout is outstanding right from the ethereal prelude to a thrilling fullness in their sound, helped by the beautifully mysterious strings playing tremolando and also the powerful brass section, which contrasts very well with the delicacy of the woodwind. The chorus are well-rehearsed and balance and react to the drama wonderfully. Daniel Barenboim has consistently impressed me in Wagner, his 1983 Tristan and 1992-3 Ring Cycle are among the best on DVD, and his very strong leadership is proof that he hasn't lost an ounce of this quality.
The principal singing shows six singers at the height of their powers. The creme-De-la-creme is easily Jonas Kaufmann, who is absolutely brilliant in the title role. Okay, his Lohengrin is dysfunctional and somewhat unheroic compared to Hofmann's interpretation of the role, but I put the blame on Guth rather than on Kaufmann, who actually does what he was made to do very well. Vocally I cannot fault him, the chocolaty-warm baritone-like quality of his voice is matched with liquid-smooth phrasing and tender musicality that I have rarely heard from any tenor singing Wagner at the moment. The other outstanding performance is from Rene Pape, he sings beautifully- not surprising as his voice is a contender for the most beautiful bass voice of recent times- and his sympathetic yet authoritative stage presence really plays to his strengths. Zeljko Lucic makes a strong impression, his singing is a little larger and less dry-sounding than his Verdi and he is a very good actor.
Annette Dasch's Elsa is a vast improvement over her performance, also as Elsa, for Bayreuth 2011. Her voice has more control, both in actual singing-much less shrill- and breath support, and her legato line is much smoother. Her acting is more than credible this time around, sweet yet tormented. Evelyn Hertzilius sings powerfully and gives Ortrud an evil genius and manipulation that is most effective. Tomas Tomassen brings forth a Telramund that is unwitting and forcefully sung without resorting to shouting or melodrama. So overall, musically phenomenal though the visual part of the production may be a point of controversy I think. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Under review here is the 2012 performance from La Scala. If I were to rank it anywhere, it would be tied with the 2009 Kaufmann and Harteros production(which was overall decent but not great, the leads were certainly more than great though) as better than 2011 Bayreuth but under(but in a rather distant placing) Frey's. The overall production is far from perfect, but there are so many things that redeem it that it is enough for me to give it an acceptable pass.
I can understand though if people may not like the production. By this, I do mean that visually it is very perplexing. Claus Guth is one of those stage directors who has some interesting ideas, but all too often he gives a concept that adds little to the story or the words or the music. Unfortunately I did find that to be the case with his Lohengrin. It does deserve some credit for not being as (rather) ugly as 2009 or as weird as Bayreuth, but in regard to the production values I really do prefer a very fairy-tale-like traditional setting. The terraced block and reed-bed at least didn't look cheap and gave some indication of a time and place, but again it raises the question of whether it adds anything to the story and music, for me it didn't.
The staging I was mixed on. Mostly it was not bad at all, most of the very crucial scenes have the dramatic impact they ought to do. Albeit there are some very questionable touches, which is often the case with Guth's opera productions so I was sort of expecting this. The swan is a large part of the story, and it made little sense as well as being a mistake to have it absent in the production. In all fairness though, the swan has rarely looked good or been staged well in performance, on almost all of the Lohengrin DVDs available the presentation of the swan has often been one of the weak points of the respective production. But the two touches that bothered me were the whole business with the piano, which for my tastes confused the story and make the characters behave in ways that jarred with what they were singing about, and the idea to make Lohengrin rather dysfunctional, which I didn't see the point of at all.
Getting my problems with the visuals and staging out of the way, I do consider the musical aspects of an opera production to be the lager part of its appeal. In this Lohengrin, the musical aspects are just phenomenal. Rarely in an opera production from recent years have I seen music played and sung so consistently with not a weak link to speak of. Wagner's music is and always has been out of this world, and the production does nothing to change that perception. The orchestral playing throughout is outstanding right from the ethereal prelude to a thrilling fullness in their sound, helped by the beautifully mysterious strings playing tremolando and also the powerful brass section, which contrasts very well with the delicacy of the woodwind. The chorus are well-rehearsed and balance and react to the drama wonderfully. Daniel Barenboim has consistently impressed me in Wagner, his 1983 Tristan and 1992-3 Ring Cycle are among the best on DVD, and his very strong leadership is proof that he hasn't lost an ounce of this quality.
The principal singing shows six singers at the height of their powers. The creme-De-la-creme is easily Jonas Kaufmann, who is absolutely brilliant in the title role. Okay, his Lohengrin is dysfunctional and somewhat unheroic compared to Hofmann's interpretation of the role, but I put the blame on Guth rather than on Kaufmann, who actually does what he was made to do very well. Vocally I cannot fault him, the chocolaty-warm baritone-like quality of his voice is matched with liquid-smooth phrasing and tender musicality that I have rarely heard from any tenor singing Wagner at the moment. The other outstanding performance is from Rene Pape, he sings beautifully- not surprising as his voice is a contender for the most beautiful bass voice of recent times- and his sympathetic yet authoritative stage presence really plays to his strengths. Zeljko Lucic makes a strong impression, his singing is a little larger and less dry-sounding than his Verdi and he is a very good actor.
Annette Dasch's Elsa is a vast improvement over her performance, also as Elsa, for Bayreuth 2011. Her voice has more control, both in actual singing-much less shrill- and breath support, and her legato line is much smoother. Her acting is more than credible this time around, sweet yet tormented. Evelyn Hertzilius sings powerfully and gives Ortrud an evil genius and manipulation that is most effective. Tomas Tomassen brings forth a Telramund that is unwitting and forcefully sung without resorting to shouting or melodrama. So overall, musically phenomenal though the visual part of the production may be a point of controversy I think. 7/10 Bethany Cox
