Intermezzo

Jonas. Lohengrin. Here. Now.

My advice? Download it swiftly, before it gets pulled.

 

*UPDATE* - My heaving mailbag reveals some of you don't know how to download a YouTube video.

The easiest way is to use a YouTube built-in downloading tool. First you need to download a piece of free software called Best Video Downloader. Then, go to the video's YouTube page by left-clicking on the title at the top of the video. You will see a 'Download' button just beneath the video. Click on your preferred file type (MP4 or FLV only) and that's it. It's a large file, so it will take a few minutes to download.

Wagner strips

POW!! BAM!!!! HOJOTOHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In a neatly-timed tie-in with La Scala's Lohengrin, a new Milan exhibition celebrates Wagner in cartoon form.

Wagner a strisce runs from 30  November to 6 January at Wow - Spazio fumetto.

Kasper Holten's Lohengrin opens in Berlin

Wings and nighties all present and correct. Tonight is the premiere of Kasper Holten's first production since he became Director of Opera at Covent Garden - but it's not in London.

The Deutsche Oper Berlin's Lohengrin features in the title role Klaus Florian Vogt, who stepped in at late notice to replace Marco Jentzsch. Ricarda Merbeth is Elsa, Petra Lang is Ortrud, Gordon Hawkins is Telramund and Albert Dohmen is Heinrich. More photos below.

 

Swan dive forces chickens off German theatre menu

The swan that dived into the orchestra pit in last week's Freiburg Lohengrin has been relieved of his duties following complaints from disgruntled theatregoers, orchestra members and animal activists. It has not yet been decided who or what his replacement will be. His handler says he was perfect in rehearsals and blames the incident on the chorus, who she says approached him too quickly.

Theatre management don't want to risk another incident, so 25 live chickens signed up to debut in Elfriede Jelinek's play Winterreise on Saturday have also been given the bird. Ironically, their purpose was to represent uncontrollability.

Lohengrin al fresco

 

Over 10,000 people crowded into a square in central Bayreuth earlier today to watch a free transmission of Lohengrin, live from the Festspielhaus just up the road. A 180-square-foot video wall provided a crystal-clear picture for spectators, who came equipped with folding chairs, picnics and blankets - and umbrellas of course.

Images from nine remote cameras were complemented by close-ups pre-recorded during the July dress rehearsal. 86 speakers dotted around the square provided Festspielhaus-style surround sound. 

Around 40,000 more people (including yours truly) watched the live webstream - pictures and sound were excellent, and Manuel Brug's perceptive interviews with the cast and production team filled the long intervals.

Those who watched the delayed live stream on the ARTE TV channel weren't so lucky. The picture broke up after 25 minutes and the broadcaster switched to an old Anna Netrebko documentary while they sorted things out. Oops.

 

Lights.....Camera.....Rats !

The Bayreuth Festival's rat-packed Lohengrin is comin atcha live on Sunday.  For 14.90 €, you have the choice of watching the live stream and/or picking up the recording at any time between 15 and 30 August - once only.

The production, conductor Andris Nelsons, and a cast which includes Klaus Florian Vogt, Annette Dasch and Petra Lang have all been widely praised by critics.

Kick off is 4pm CET (don't forget that's 3pm in the UK), and because it's live there will be the Bayreuth-standard one hour breaks between acts.

It's a good idea to sign up well beforehand, as you need to try a test stream first.

Bayreuth Lohengrin live on TV

For the first time ever a Bayreuth Festival production is to be shown live on TV.

The French/German channel ARTE will broadcast Hans Neuenfels' Lohengrin (the rat-infested production which debuted last year) live on 14 August. Klaus Florian Vogt takes the title role, Annette Dasch is Elsa and Andris Nelsons conducts.

It's not clear at this stage whether the broadcast will be streamed on the ARTE website as well.

the other Lohengrin

Lohengrin - National Theatre Munich, 25 July 2010

There were two Lohengrins in Bavaria on Sunday. I was at the other one. I had time to take in only the first act of the new Bayreuth one (sounded pretty good) on the radio before setting off for another look at Munich's version. I didn't care much for the production itself last year. Richard Jones's silly lego house and class conflict twaddle was if anything even more irritating second time round. It can't help the performers when the audience are tittering away at inappropriate moments, but when Lohengrin arrives with a nodding swan tucked under his arm, or kills Telramund with a wave of his arm, what can you expect?

Lohengrin - the after-show - the video

Guests from the world of politics provide some suitably diplomatic reactions to Hans Neuenfels' new Bayreuth Lohengrin at the post-show reception yesterday. Jonas Kaufmann and Annette Dasch also appear briefly. In German, naturlich. Source.

even more Bayreuth Lohengrin photos

Bayreuth's new Lohengrin was premiered earlier today, to a mixture of boos and applause (no change there then). Director Hans Neuenfels received most of the boos, and the odd bravo for good measure. Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin) and Annette Dasch (Elsa) got the most applause. Evelyn Herlitzius as Ortrud and Hans-Joachim Ketelsen as Telramund were positively received as well. Conductor Andris Nelsons was either wildly applauded or received the odd boo, depending on which source you read.

The German papers so far have been less interested in reviewing the production than discussing the presence of Angela Merkel (who apparently applauded Neuenfels 'demonstratively'. Well, every voter counts).

A few more photos have emerged (overleaf and above) - see also my earlier post and the official photos.

Let there be swans! (and a few rats). First pictures of new Bayreuth Lohengrin

Bayreuth's new production of Lohengrin by Hans Neunfels opens the 2010 festival tomorrow. Here are the first photos:

Lohengrin - Andris Nelsons scores victory for Birmingham

Lohengrin - CBSO / Andris Nelsons - Symphony Hall Birmingham, 12 June 2010

Competing in the World Cup is tough enough; competing with it is even harder. But the CBSO managed to fill Symphony Hall for a one-off concert performance of Lohengrin despite the first round challenge from England v.USA.  Scheduling a 90 minute interval to coincide with kick off was one of the evening's most skilful moves. Opera and football touch the same part of the soul; together they make an irresistible team.

Wagner - buy now while stocks last

Britain's demand for Wagner is seemingly insatiable - I somehow doubt if last weekend's Mariinsky farrago will have put many off. A couple of operas next summer are already selling fast - best not to leave ticket-buying too long.

Welsh National Opera stage a new Richard Jones production of Die Meistersinger in June 2010, with performances in Cardiff and Birmingham. Bryn Terfel, making his role debut as Hans Sachs, is joined by Amanda Roocroft, Christopher Purves, Brindley Sherratt and conductor Lothar Koenigs. More details and booking here.

Andris Nelsons conducts the CBSO in a concert performance of Lohengrin on 12 June 2010 at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The cast includes the up-and-coming Lance Ryan and Edith Haller (as seen in Covent Garden's recent Lohengrin) plus veterans Lioba Braun and Eike Wilm Schulte. More details and booking here.

And on a related note, Wagneropera.net is running a competition - write about your Bayreuth experience to win Enrico Nawrath's book Bayreuth Backstage. Details here.

off the wall

Here are few of the posters the Bavarian State Opera plastered around Munich's opera house last week (more here):

Lohengrin in Munich - with Jonas Kaufmann

Lohengrin - Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich, 15 July 2009 

When I listened to last week's premiere of this new production on the radio, I wasn't that surprised to hear booing from the audience - it's customary here for any even slightly revisionist new Wagner production, whatever the musical quality. The boos were few this time round - but perhaps that was just because director Richard Jones had wisely scarpered.

On the grounds that building a state is like building a house (and slotting as neatly as an Ikea shelf into the theme for this year's opera festival, 'Under Construction'), he sets it around Elsa constructing her dream home. Not a bad idea, but it's his only one, and it doesn't stretch very far, forcing him into some absurd corners. What's more, the execution doesn't always match up to the concept, and it's often hard to work out just what is going on, let alone how to interpret it.

As is usual with radical rethinks, the text and the action part company frequently - that much is expected. But the musical cues - which are detailed and specific - are glossed over too. The disconnect between what is heard and what is seen is less forgivable.

Characters are turned upside down. Elsa is no longer an innocent girl, but a capable Rosie the Riveter in plaits and dungarees - and she's not afraid to grout the bricks herself. Lohengrin is a scruffy anti-hero, who strolls in with a (very realistic) swan tucked under his arm, to general disinterest. He wiggles his sword half-heartedly, but fells Telramund with magic jazz hands - thus confirming Ortrud's suspicions that wizardry is afoot. Telramund is a monodimensional bully, there's nothing regal about the King, and even the Herald is shoved to one side on an umpire's chair, while his pronouncements are relayed on tiny screens above the stage (Big Brother? - don't ask me). The chorus, dressed in a mixture of schoolwear, Bertie Wooster blazers and something daringly close to the local Munich police uniform, mooch around irrelevantly. They might as well have sung off stage. Everybody looks as if they'd rather be somewhere else - which I assume must be a directorial imperative rather than universal unprofessionalism. If Richard Jones had set out to get up everyone's noses (a possibility I don't discount) he could hardly have done better.

Jonas Kaufmann made an intriguing comment in a recent German interview (translated here) that "We already took several approaches, which however failed for various reasons". Was he talking about German productions in general or this particular one?

Here's how it opens. As the Vorspiel is played (and I wonder what conductor Kent Nagano thought of that) Elsa sketches her house plan with arthritic slowness. Behind is a gantry which will later accomodate the chorus; to the right is the Herald's chair:

Listen to Jonas Kaufmann's Lohengrin debut live from Munich

 

Jonas Kaufmann makes his role debut as Lohengrin at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich later today.

Richard Jones's eagerly-awaited new production will be broadcast on a big screen outside the opera house (if you're lucky enough to be in Munich) and also on the radio station Bayern 4 Klassik - which you can listen to here.

The show starts at 17.00 CET, which is 4pm in the UK, and there's a preamble with interviews at 16.30 CET (all in German selbstverständlich).

Listen to a preview programme including brief interviews with Richard Jones, conductor Kent Nagano and Jonas himself here.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros (Elsa) - dress rehearsal

more tickets available for Jonas Kaufmann's Munich Lohengrin

Did you like me miss out in the mad ticket scramble for Jonas Kaufmann's Lohengrin debut in Richard "Wallpaper" Jones's forthcoming Munich Opera Festival production?

Then you will be thrilled to discover that a very small number of seats, presumably returns, are now available.

Buy here.

swansong

Lohengrin - Royal Opera House, 16 May 2009

Last night saw the final performance of Lohengrin at Covent Garden. It was my third visit of the run, so there's not much remaining unsaid. Though being very close to the stage this time, I did notice that what we all thought was sand strewn across the stage actually bears a closer resemblance to ready-grated parmesan cheese, or the stuff you put in the bottom of a hamster's bedding to soak up the wee. Diva litter?

The knight in a nightie was Simon O'Neill, clearly more relaxed than he was first time round. He delivered a first and second act of some beauty, his tone more open and varied than on his debut. Unfortunately fatigue or phlegm or something set in for Act Three, and it was a far bumpier ride. But he got the biggest ovation, and deserved it.

Edith Haller was also excellent, with none of the tremulousness of her first night performance remaining. Only the colossal strain of her exposed high note in the second act again let her down.

Petra Lang's fabulously detailed Ortrud was nearly matched by Gerd Grochowski's Telramund for dramatic impact. Any other time they could be accused of scenery-chewing, but in this listless production, they provide the only signs of life.

But the real reason I decided to return again was to hear Semyon Bychkov's magnificent conducting one more time, with its remarkable flow and detail. Although the brass weren't flawless on this occasion, Bychkov conjured thrilling fanfares out of them, and the unity and lyricism of the strings and woodwinds cast an Italianate glow. His reading has gathered pace throughout the run, and was dramatically all the better for it - none of the first night's dragging moments.

Bychkov recently recorded Lohengrin with some of the same cast - an SACD that despite its hefty price tag might be worth checking out.

The orchestra clearly love him, as they demonstrated with their applause at the beginning and end of the third act. 

A pit-side photo-tribute:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another knight at Covent Garden

Lohengrin - Royal Opera House, 5 May 2009

I knew this production wasn't going to be any livelier a second time round than it had been last week, but at least the evening started with a bit of excitement. As I was coming out of the lift at Covent Garden tube, a couple of hefty pork-faced blokes shoved past me and grabbed another hefty pork-faced bloke. "Police!" "Against the wall!" OK, so it's not quite The Wire, but you don't see a real live arrest every day round here.

My spirits were raised even further when I spotted Klaus Florian Vogt on his way in through the stage door. Sadly it turned out he was only on cover duty. The scheduled Lohengrin, Simon O'Neill, was in the rudest of health for his role debut. His vocal stamina couldn't be faulted, and he managed a degree of physical movement beyond the wildest fantasies of his co-knight Johan Botha. Smaller man-bewbs too.

Personally I didn't care for O'Neill's bright, piercing tenor in this role, but he could undeniably hit all the notes, and he drilled them to the back of the auditorium effortlessly. His phrasing was less convincing, most egregiously in his emphatic underlining of the verb in bin Lohengrin genannt (at this point I thought of Klaus Florian Vogt sipping tea and doing crosswords down in the bowels and wept a little tear). He suffered even more than the rest of the cast from the general lack of physical direction. Certainly an effective performance, but lacking in insight - my general feeling was that he needs more time - and guidance - to build a coherent idea of this role in a way that works for him.

The rest of the cast seemed more relaxed than they had on the first night, and every one of them sang better. Although Edith Haller was often a little flat, she sang with better control and more confidence, and clearly had greater rapport with O'Neill than Botha.

Petra Lang's performance was reined in a little, and all the better for it. And in her near-silent first act she provided an object lesson in how to create a character without singing a note. Her long second act scene with Gerd Grochowski's brilliantly dim-witted, besotted Telramund was easily the most dramatically engaging part of the evening.

Only Kwangchul Youn disappointed, sounding older and tireder than I've ever heard him before - illness, perhaps?

The chorus were more polished than they had been on the first night, let down only by a slightly underpowered first act (I wonder how much of this was simply down to their position, miles upstage), and particularly rousing as they crowded the front of the stage in the last act.

But once again the real stars of the evening were the orchestra, sounding even better than they had on opening night, all blips ironed out. The strings glowed and shimmered with the rare unity of purpose so essential to Lohengrin's dense textures. Semyon Bychkov's reading was more embedded in the drama this time round, more flexible and daring, less slavishly tied to the score. Dripping with sweat by the end, he quite rightly got the biggest ovation of the night.

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Monty Python's Life of Lohengrin

Lohengrin - Royal Opera House, 27 April 2009

above - Spamengrin and Lohengralot compared

It's been tarted up with a couple of acid house back-projections, but this tired production still looks all of its 32 years. Yea verily it's tough, post-Spamalot, to swallow all the standard-waving and knights-on-Broadway costumery with a straight face.

But there's little of substance beyond. Some sort of ecclesiastical theme might be inferred from the minimal scenery - a skull-encrusted throne, a Byzantine cross, and a cow's head on a stick (or tête d'aurochs as the powerful pagan symbol is more elegantly known in French). But that's as far as it goes - the politico-religious conflict is merely acknowledged, never explored.

And after all this time, the technical failings haven't been sorted out. The scrims that ripple like net curtains, the inexplicably sandy floor which sticks to everything, and worst of all, the Bat Cave-style swan projection, barely visible under the bright lights. When a director chooses to emphasise the historical over the mythical element of Lohengrin and deny the audience a range of subjective interpretations, these are the sorts of things that need to be absolutely right. Otherwise, the spell is broken. 

All this would have mattered less if the cast had shown greater engagement. But, Petra Lang's luminously unhinged Ortrud aside, it was dull, static, stand and deliver all round.

Edith Haller looked great, and she has the voice for Elsa, pure and blanched. But as yet she doesn't have it under perfect control (or the money note, which fell embarrassingly short). And her lost expression indicated a want of detailed direction.

She prays for a knight in shining armour. Johan Botha (rhymes with 'bloater') looks more like a wardrobe in a nightdress. But he can at least sing the part, though his sweet but pressured tone is not as effortlessly convincing as Klaus Florian Vogt's. Even less mobile than Pavarotti, his limited wrist-flick gesticulation gifted us two of the crappiest swordfights ever seen at Covent Garden, and his vocal stamina wilted at several points.

We might have seen a bit more action on stage had the great Falk Struckmann been well enough to perform Telramund, one of his signature roles, as scheduled. Instead, we had the able but distinctly less charismatic Gerd Grochowski. Kwangchul Youn was a less imposing Heinrich here than he was in the recent Berlin production. Boaz Daniel, marooned thanklessly up a pole for half the evening, declaimed forcefully as the Herald.

The path was clear for Semyon Bychkov to make this a conductor's night, and he did so with great care and style and attention to detail. It wasn't flawless - the Vorspiel dragged a little, there were some split notes in the brass, and once or twice some drama was sacrificed for structural symmetry. But these are niggles - the orchestra played beautifully and with great discipline for Maestro Bychkov - definitely one of the finest performances of the season.

This and this alone persuades me to return for another performance later in the run. Possibly with my eyes shut though.

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