Lohengrin, Opera by R. Wagner
The Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice hosts a production of Lohengrin, Richard Wagner's three-act opera. Lohengrin debuted at the German National Theatre in Weimar on 28 August 1850, shortly after Wagner published The Artwork of the Future. In this essay, the German composer explained his conception of new opera writing. Wagner argued that instrumental music had reached its zenith with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and that it, therefore, needed to be blended with other forms of art to move forwards. Lohengrin, for which Wagner provided both the music and the libretto, gives fascinating insights into how he intended to achieve this grand vision.
Despite it having a forward-looking nature in many respects, Lohengrin is set in the tenth century. Wagner drew from multiple medieval sources, both literary and artistic, for the opera. At the time, the composer was concerned with writing operatic works that would provide audiences with the fullest experiences possible. Although Lohengrin is the fourth and final work of what musicologists refer to as Wagner's Romantic operas, the composer's developing use of more strident harmonies, plus the touches of leitmotif he deploys to represent both emotions and characters here and there, hint at the compositional style he would later master.
In Lohengrin, the nature of faith and trust are central. The plot focuses on Princess Elsa, who has been accused of fratricidal murder by Count Telramund. She looks for divine help and, subsequently, a strange knight turns up, arriving on a boat pulled by a swan. The knight says he will fight Telramund on her behalf but stipulates that she must never enquire about his background or even ask him his name. Elsa agrees, not knowing that her saviour is, in fact, Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail. With Telramund beaten, his wife, Ortrud, plans revenge on Elsa for the count's misfortune. On the eve of Elsa's wedding to the knight, Ortrud casts doubt over Lohengrin and his motives. The princess has to make up her mind whether to honour her agreement with the knight or break her promise with all of the potential consequences such an act may bring about.
Theatregoers can expect a remarkable opera at this Venice Opera House staging of Lohengrin which features the highly regarded La Fenice orchestra and choir. Wagner's developing style is on show, just as it has always been since the opera was first conducted live by Franz Liszt, the Hungarian composer who stood in for Wagner at the premiere while the latter was in exile from Germany.