Spain Wagner, Lohengrin: Soloists, Liceu Chorus and Orchestra / Josep Pons (conductor). Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 21.3.2025. (JMI)
Production:
Director – Katharina Wagner
Sets – Marc Löhrer
Costumes – Thomas Kaiser
Lighting – Peter E. Younes
Dramaturgy – Daniel Weber
Chorus director – Pablo Assante
Cast:
Lohengrin – Klaus Florian Vogt
Elsa – Elisabeth Teige
King Henry – Günther Groissböck
Ortrud – Okka Von Der Damerau
Telramund – Olafur Sigurdarson
Herald – Roman Trekel
This Richard Wagner opera has been performed 242 times at the Liceu, but thirteen years have passed since it was last seen here. At that time, the opera was in concert form and conducted by the musical director of the house, Sebastian Weigle, with tenor Klaus Florian Vogt a standout among the singers.
Without a doubt, the great appeal of the current performances is the fact that they offer a new production by Katharina Wagner, the composer’s great-granddaughter and current artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival. The premiere of the production had been scheduled five years ago, but it had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is not the first time Katharina Wagner has produced Lohengrin – she premiered another production in Leipzig and Tokyo, although it appears to have no resemblance to the one at the Liceu. This new staging has been received in Barcelona with loud boos and she appears to have no better idea than to change the story by turning the good guys into bad ones and vice versa. During the overture, Lohengrin is on the stage, playing with Gottfried, the Duke of Brabant, and kills him. We are thus facing an evil Lohengrin and not the usual villains, Telramund and Ortrud. The idea seems absurd to me. There is no doubt that the music and libretto of an opera are protected by law, and I wonder if the same should not apply to the plot – it doesn’t seem right to me to betray an author’s intentions, no matter what the name of the one who does it is.
In fact, the rest of the opera is quite traditional. Apart from a few isolated details, Lohengrin doesn’t seem like a murderer at all, nor do the supposed villainous couple seem like heroes. There is no further change from a normal production except for what has happened during the overture and what occurs in the final scene, where Lohengrin commits suicide and Ortrud brings Gottfried on the stage, although he is obviously dead.
The stage is basically the same for all three acts. It all takes place in a forest with the chorus in uniform and the presence of metal boxes onstage. In Acts II and III, illuminated cubicles are projected above the stage; they resemble rooms for the protagonists and add nothing to the action. The stage direction seemed very poor to me, particularly the handling of the chorus (it all seemed more like a concert version).
Overall, I found both the musical and vocal performances satisfying. The conducting of Josep Pons, the Liceu’s musical director, must be highlighted. He led a brilliant performance in the first act and eased the tension somewhat in the first part of Act II where the volume was excessive. In Act III, he continued in a noteworthy manner. Pons has clearly become a brilliant conductor of Wagner operas, and he led the Gran Teatre del Liceu Orchestra in one of the best performances I can recall in recent years. The Liceu Chorus also did very well.
Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan, was portrayed by Klaus Florian Vogt, undoubtedly one of the best Lohengrins of recent years. He, perhaps, currently shares the throne with Piotr Beczała. His voice is less childlike than it was in earlier years, and his vocal adaptation to the character is much better now. He was superb from beginning to end and was the best of the entire cast.
Elsa was sung by soprano Elisabeth Teige who gave an outstanding performance – a successful debut at the Liceu. She has a beautiful voice, one that is well-suited to the part, and she sang with gusto. Günther Groissböck as King Henry was outstanding in terms of singing and acting, although his voice might be criticized for not sounding a full, rounded bass.
Ortrud was performed by mezzo-soprano Okka Von der Damerau, whose presence in the cast was announced to the audience just prior to the performance. She is a good artist, although she lacks high notes – it should not be forgotten that the role of Ortrud is somewhere between a soprano and a mezzo. Soprano Miina Liisa Värelä performed the part of Ortrud in the premiere, after Katherina Wagner had vetoed Iréne Theorin. Now free of vetoes, Theorin is scheduled to sing in the remaining performances.
Baritone Olafur Sigurdarson sang the role of Telramund and gave a fine performance, although his voice seemed to me clearer than I would expect for this supposedly evil character. Finally, the King’s Herald was baritone Roman Trekel, who is familiar in this role, although I found his voice rather smaller than on previous occasions.
José M. Irurzun
Featured Image: Katharina Wagner’s Lohengrin in Barcelona © D. Ruano