Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- Lohengrin , Wales Millennium Centre , May 27, 2013 |
Whether or not designer and director Antony McDonald knew his Lohengrin was being paired with Wagner’s Dream with its Buddhist spiritualist theme, he has, nonetheless given us a work with the hero more a monk (or even Jedi Knight) that a Germanic holy warrior. This Lohengrin feels very much like an experiment in presenting a trance like world, a mystical religion and rapture-induced dream in Elsa’s head, which starts and ends in what is probably supposed to be a military installation but also smacks of the lunatic asylum where she is incarcerated. Lohengrin is summoned up from her subconscious, a manifestation of her visions, who is ultimately replaced by his reincarnation, the reborn Gottfried. All very Buddhist, all very in keeping with the theme of David Pountney’s season, and all pretty much okay. Whatever the audience thought of this or the not particularly noteworthy set, it is impossible not to be in awe of the orchestra and generally the quality of the singing in this beautiful and glorious evening. Wagner gives the chorus a night to shine and, under Lothar Koenigs’ baton, the orchestra produced an evening of majestic sound from the vast wall of Wagnerian brass to incandescent strings and poignant woodwind. Peter Wedd, our ethereal knight, sang with a sweet, unworldly legato, a beautiful faint pianissimo when required lifting to a rousing, yet always fragile, passion. With bleached white hair to match his angelic portrayal and sensitive acting ability this was a Lohengrin of ethereal appeal. His Elsa was a most captivating Emma Bell who looked and acted something of a pre Raphaelite heroine, again slightly not of this world, more trance than traumatised, with singing that could rip your heart out. There may be less variety needed in acting and singing with the portrayal of Ortrud yet Susan Bickley gave a mesmerising performance with the scenes between the two leading ladies breathtaking. Claudio Otelli stepped into the role of Telramund at short notice but it would have been impossible to have known for here too we had a dramatically and vocally spine tingling performance, with a well measured King Heinrich from Matthew Best. McDonald's production was set in the 19th century, that period of German nationalism that was concerned then with reinventing history to justify the creation of a unified state rather than fascism and racial purity as ideologies. Of course such transpositions jar with the libretto and electric lights and rifles sit uneasily with magical swans and pagan gods. But we have grown used to this. The swan is wonderfully realised as another angelic blond lad, Bridgend schoolboy Thomas Rowlands, who could have swam straight out of Swan Lake. At the end of the opera, this new Lohengrin wields his sword at all, including the mighty king. Wagner may here have spouted some of his dodgiest versions of history and worst Germanic nationalist nonsense, so beloved by Hitler, but we can just take all of that with a pinch of salt (I hope) and adore the music despite the anachronistic political tripe that spawned it. Instead, this production delves into the dilemmas of redemption, trust, faith and doubt. The zeal of the bible waving Lutherans and the bitterness of the voice of the deposed gods and its political manifestations are vibrantly told to resonate in contemporary times. ..... A version of this review first appeared in the Western Mail and Wales Online |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
This review has been read 1238 times There are 111 other reviews of productions with this title in our database:
|
