On 2010-03-15 Robert E. Olsen, McLean, VA United States wrote: Lohengrin was an early Wagner opera based on early medieval sources. Pagan gods and black magic are pitted against the New Testament God and Christian magic, and the latter win out, thanks mainly to the fighting prowess of a mysterious swan knight, but not before a witch named Ortrud goads Elsa, the knight´s innocent bride, into asking him who he is. That is all it takes for the knight to renounce his bride and the Brabantians (whose protector he has agreed to be), to reveal his origins, and to take the first swan boat back to Christendom.
It is a slow-moving piece of music theater. I suspect the opera might have dragged even in 1850, when it premiered. I had hoped that the Bayreuth staging here by Werner Herzog, the film director of Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre: The Wrath of God, would provide some needed heft and action for non-German viewers. Alas, no. Perhaps Herzog was constrained by the requirements of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus or the wishes of the producer, Wagner´s grandson and the keeper of the family flame, but in any event the actors in this production pose and change their positions very very slowly and the chorus rises and shines and moves about like the climax of a Bruckner symphony sounds. It is all very traditional.
The videography does not help. There are numerous long shots, held forever, of the moon over waves, some painted and some manufactured by a wave machine, rocks, and a semi-finished medieval castle. There is not a single shot of the famous theater, the supposedly live audience, the orchestra, the conductor, or even a rising curtain. On the other hand, the music, though it appears dubbed, is performed well enough. Lohengrin is sung by lyric heldentenor Paul Frey, who had a short career at the top but looks the part. Cheryl Studer sings very well as Elsa. The other principals do their jobs. Costumes and sets are unexceptional. . And summed up by saying Static. Currently Wagner: Lohengrin has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Richard Wagner claimed Acclaimed director Werner Herzog stages Richard Wagner sclassic opera, Lohengrin in a lavish production filmed at thefamed Bayreuth Opera House, with Peter Schneiderconducting the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. The medievalromance of the Swan Knight, who comes miraculously to therescue of the falsely accused Elsa of Brabant, became oneof Richard Wagner s most beloved operas. This productionfeatures an all-star cast including Cheryl Studer as Elsaand Paul Frey as Lohengrin, as well as Gabriele Schnaut,Ekkehard Wlaschiha and Manfred Schenk.
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