Intermezzo

Lohengrin, The Prequel

Filipino-Chinese composer Jeffrey Ching had always wondered what happened before Lohengrin turned up in Brabant in his swan-shaped boat. So, with a commision to create a chamber work on a fantastical theme,  he wrote an opera about it.

Before Brabant premieres in concert version in Hong Kong on 18 March. Ignoring Wagner's murmurs of Parsifal and Monsalvat, Ching's opera is based on a 16th century text by Robert Copland, The Knight of the Swanne. In this story, Lohengrin is one of seven young princes banished to a forest and cursed to turn into swans.

Seven musicians and four singers perform the 70 minute work. Anyone hoping for a Wagner pastiche will be disappointed - the music is apparently atonal, with Chinese influences, although a Wagner quote does pop up at the end.

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.