Metropolitan Opera. Wagner's Lohengrin. March 28, 2023.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat I22, $25).

From the Met's website.

Story.  The story takes place in Antwerp, ruled by King Heinrich.  Elsa is accused by Count Telramund of having murdered her brother Gottfried, heir to the Duchy of Brabant.  Telramund was once betrothed to Elsa but has since married the sorceress Ortrud.  Elsa calls on the knight she dreamed of to defend her innocence in a duel with Telramund.  A newcomer miraculously appears in a boat drawn by a swan, defeats Telramund with his bare hands, and asks Elsa to marry him.  One condition is that she never ask his name or origin.  Elsa agrees.  Ortrud and Telramund plot vengeance with Ortrud sowing doubts in Elsa's mind that the knight is an impostor.  On the couple's wedding night, Elsa's anxiety and uncertainty compel her to ask the knight's name.  At that moment, Telramund bursts in but is killed by the knight.  Telramund's body is brought to the banks of the Scheldt, the knight and Elsa follow.  The knight tells the king he is the son and knight of Parsifal of the temple of the Holy Grail, and his own name is Lohengrin.  The swan returns to fetch Lohengrin, and is transformed back into Elsa's brother Gottfried.  Lohengrin disappears, Ortrud collapses, and Elsa falls to the grounds, in the arms of Gottfried.

Conductor - Patrick Furrer.  Lohengrin - Piotr Beczala, Elsa von Brabant - Elena Stikhina, Friedrich von Telramund - Thomas Hall, Ortrud - Christine Goerke, King's Herald - Brian Mulligan, King Heinrich - Gunther Groissbock.

Not quite sure how to do this entry, so let me start by saying I am glad I went to see it.  While I have seen most of Wagner's operas, this one was on the "not yet" list, so I am happy to check it off.

The staging is at best "curious."  Another description that comes to mind is "low budget."  The "main" backdrop, if one calls it that, is a "slab" the size of the stage with a hole in it.  The slab either hangs at a 45-degree angle, or placed vertically.  In the back are projected stars and the moon (which moved rather quickly during the Act 1 overture).  Many characters' first appearances (Elsa, Lohengrin and Gottfried) had them walking down from the top of the staircase close to that opening.  The boat pulled along by a swan never showed up, all we saw were projected on the back the wings of a swan.  The other backdrop consists of two vertical walls (?).  As far as acoustics is concerned, the setup works very well in helping the singers project their voices.  This is underlined by how Lohengrin's voice dramatically increase as he walks down from the top of the stairs (with the opening behind him) to the stage (here helped by the solid slab).

Except for the beginning or Act 3, this was basically the set.  Projected behind this "hole" are stars and the moon.

Perhaps helped by the backdrop, or because I was close to the stage, all the singers put in excellent performances.  After having seen Beczala several times (first encounter 2018), that he did well was no surprise.  This was the first time I heard the Russian soprano Stikhina sing, and she was impressive, and more than compensates for her acting skills.  Both Groissbock and Goerke are stars in their own right, and they performed very well in tonight's secondary roles.  Thomas Hall and Patrick Furrer are both "substitutes."  The conductor was going to be Yannick Nezet-Sequin.  Both subs were scheduled for some performances of this opera this season, so I am sure we didn't miss much.

From the left: Herald, Talrumund, Elsa, Maestro Furrer, Lohengrin, Ortrud, and King.

Banner displaying Lohengrin has a swan on it.  No swan in the actual production.

I did write down some notes after each act, and am including them here (filling in some details) so the efforted isn't for naught:

Act 1.  Chorus members were wearing cloaks that could switch among the colors white/black/green or red.  Ortrud (Goerke) has a small role in this act, singing in one ensemble number.  Elsa has eight attendants.  Lohengrin fought without a sword.

Act 2.  At 85 minutes felt a bit long.  Most of that was scheming between Ortrud and Telramund on how to get Elsa to doubt the knight.  Chorus quite large and sang quite a bit.  So far Lohengrin has a smaller role compared to the other principals.

Act 3.  This "don't ask my name" business reminds me of Samson & Delilah, the Tree of good and evil in Eden, and Turandot.  Both the conductor and Telramund are subs, and they are very good.

Overall.  A better experience than Parsifal.

I wrote the notes in case I forgot, in this case perhaps not necessary.

Parsifal is Lohengrin's father, but Wagner composed Lohengrin (first performed 1850) years before Parsifal (1882), which would explain why Lohengrin is a lot more accessible than Parsifal.

The most famous tune in the opera probably is the wedding march at the beginning of Act 3.  It was played during the wedding, which was not shown. Instead we have Ortrud pacing as she schemed to take her revenge. 

If there are lists of a composer's work that I want to see, Wagner's operas probably would be on it.  The other would be Mahler's Symphonies.  Last year we got to see two while we were in Leipzig (Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot), which brought the list down to Rienzi and Lohengrin.  I have resigned to myself that our chances of seeing Rienzi is quite minimal, having missed it last year (sold out before I tried to get tickets), but I wasn't about to miss Lohengrin, last staged at the Met 17 years ago.

My ticket was a rush ticket.  That the seat was quite good meant - alas - there were many empty ones for tonight's performance.  The opera ended at 11:10 pm, so I couldn't make the 11:18 pm train back to South Amboy.  It was after 1:15 am when I pulled into the garage.