Katharina Wagner’s new production of Lohengrin that premiered on March 17 in Barcelona upends the story of the swan knight in shining armor from distant land to rescue an innocent maiden Elsa, who has been accused of murdering her brother Gottfried. A few years ago, I had seen a production of Lohengrin in Salzburg and Vienna (a co-production) in which Elsa is the villain who kills her brother, witnessed by Ortrud. However, Katharina Wagner’s transgression of her great grandfather’s oeuvre seems to touch especially sensitive nerves here. The production team was reportedly greeted by a round of loud boos at the curtain call at the premiere.
Another drama surrounding this production was the casting of Ortrud. Soprano Irene Theorin was scheduled for the role, but was replaced by a Finnish singer Miina-Liisa Värelä for the premiere. While Theorin never officially cancelled, she did not sing a single performance, allegedly due to an infection. For the second and third performances, Okka von der Damerau was flown in, and the final three performances were sung by Värelä. As I attended the third, fourth, and fifth of six performances, I was able to experience two singers as Ortrud. Both acquitted themselves very well under the circumstances, with Värelä a standout with her powerful, steady, and blazing high notes. Norwegian soprano Elisabeth Taige as Elsa looked stunning and statuesque in blue dress in the first act and in white wedding gown in the second and third acts, singing with a creamy, warm, and clear voice and seamlessly weaving her lines with the character’s innocent beauty. Although under the brutal power of her knight, she was nevertheless a headstrong and caring heroine, interacting with Ortrud and Telramund with intelligence and compassion, and strong and thrilling emotional outbursts.
Other than Värelä, all major soloists were veterans of Bayreuth, and the house atmosphere was that of familiarity and conviviality. The Icelandic baritone Ölafur Sigurdarson’s Telramund was often loud and forced; his interpretation as a simple man manipulated by his ambitious wife would have benefited from a bit more nuance and subtlety. Günther Groissböck was excellent as a deep and full-voiced King, erasing from memory his recent sometimes tentative performances. The voice was steady and free of strain, with authority and control of the role clearly articulated. Another veteran of Bayreuth and Wagner roles, Roman Trekel as the King’s Herald was lacking in vocal steadiness. Smaller roles were well sung, and while the chorus was at times a bit out of synch with the orchestra, they sang with commitment and unity. The orchestra under the general music director Josep Pons was excellent, although he often kept the volume high and the tempo a little slow.
Ortrud (Miina-Liisa Värelä), Elsa (Elisabeth Taige), and Telramund (Ölafur Sigurdarson) Photo: David Ruano.
The German tenor Klaus Florian Vogt has made Lohengrin his signature role for over two decades, although he has added meatier Wagnerian roles such as Tannhäuser, Siegfried, and Tristan over the last several years. The new challenge seems to have benefited rather than damaged his voice and interpretation. The voice, once described as “light” by his detractors, is now strong, flexible, and powerful, with its characteristic ethereal beauty and soft legato remaining intact. Lohengrin is a long role, the third act being the most difficult. Vogt knew exactly how to pace himself during the long duet with Elsa and final confrontation with his fate. The grail narrative was sung with supreme serenity, otherworldliness, and control, utterly mesmerizing and moving.
During the prelude, played by a successive set of strings, the director provides an act of murder by Lohengrin’s drowning of Gottfried in the forest as Elsa sleeps nearby. A mechanical black swan bears witness to the crime, and appears frequently on stage to remind Lohengrin of his crime. The forest of trees in charcoal background with the pond in the middle remains as a set piece throughout the opera, a reminder of the scene of the crime. The King’s soldiers wear military uniforms of vague recent vintage, while the folks of Brabant are in drab gray costumes but are forced to dress in the same imperial dark red at times. The props in Act I and the first part of Act II consist of metal rectangular boxes of weapons that serve as Elsa’s gallows, soldiers’ soapboxes as they sing, and other sundry functions. There was spontaneous (but inappropriate) laughter from the audience as Lohengrin tried to hide the swan in one of the boxes from Ortrud’s probing eyes.
Lohengrin (Klaus Florian Vogt), Elsa (Elisabeth Taige), and King Heinrich (Günther Groissböck). Photo: David Ruano.
The set design by Marc Löhrer is simple and uncluttered, with atmospheric lighting by Peter Younes. Each act has a period of stunning visual effects during which only Lohengrin remains in white spotlight while the rest of the characters on stage are plunged into darkness: in Act I it starts with the King’s “Mein Herr…” followed by an a cappella quintet; in Act II, it starts with Lohengrin calling out to his doubtful bride as all join in for a prayer to the heavens; in Act III it begins when Lohengrin is left alone to address the invisible King and the crowd to explain his origin, and the darkness persists till the end of the opera. After revealing his name and origin while murdering the black swan, Lohengrin is seemingly overcome with the gravity of his crimes and commits suicide by slashing both his wrists as Elsa calls out from off stage and Ortrud drags Gottfried’s dead body out of the water.
The second half of Act II and the beginning of Act III present a major problem in this production. A huge white box of three rooms is lowered from the top of the stage, suspended in mid space and reachable via stairs in the back. Each room has a bed, and the attempt by Ortrud and Telramund to convince Elsa to confront Lohengrin in Act II as well as the wedding night drama in Act III are played inside the boxes. A lot of action in the boxes is not easily visible unless one is sitting in the middle of the theater or perhaps upstairs, and the awkward staging and blocking prevent the full appreciation of the high stakes drama, ultimately failing to convince the audience of the evil nature of the knight. The director may have wanted to explore the theme that behind the otherworldly music drama a heart of darkness could lurk, but the result is perplexing and frustrating. At least there is no ugliness, nakedness or senseless violence that seem de rigeur in many productions.