Lohengrin - Deutsche Oper Berlin (2016) - Lohengrin - Deutsche Oper Berlin (2016)

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Our feelings tell us immediately that Elsa is the one who can claim greater justification and that Lohengrin’s condition »Never ask me questions…« can only shrug off the appearance of wanton tyranny if it can be demonstrated to be necessary; this condition must be justified, since on its own, faced with the higher law that states that there may be no secrets between lovers, it is hollow and without foundation, especially as Lohengrin would be hard put to comply if Elsa were to demand the same devotion from him. In an age when faith in the mystery of the Holy Grail was alive, Lohengrin’s demand might seem fair and Elsa’s question a presumption deserving of punishment; any age, in fact, that still respects subservient trust and unwavering subordination to authority will reconcile itself to the demand. We, on the other hand, see Elsa’s actions as the one true course, see her downfall as unmotivated.
[Excerpt from an article on the Berlin premiere of LOHENGRIN (January 1859) in Berlinische Nachrichten von Staats- und gelehrten Sachen; premiere in the Königliches Hoftheater in Weimar: August 1850.]

Atonement for Elsa’s mistake can only take the form of punishment, and there are few more consistent, more indispensable punishments than that of enforced separation: Elsa cannot be flogged or put to death. Any punishment other than the penalty of separation would be an arbitrary ruling and open to criticism. The severest penalty, that of separation, appears as the most indispensable, and it cannot seem to be too hard as it is the fairest and most logical punishment of them all. Elsa has forfeited Lohengrin […]. As for the fable’s symbolism I will just say: the overlap between extrasensory manifestation and human nature and the impossibility of such an overlap surviving for any length of time.
[Richard Wagner in a letter to Hermann Franck, 30th May 1846]

More information is available on the opera house's official website.

Schedule

January 31, 2016 17:00:00

February 14, 2016 17:00:00

May 05, 2016 17:00:00

May 08, 2016 17:00:00

Casting

Kasper Holten

Donald Runnicles

Günther Groissböck

Michael Weinius

Klaus Florian Vogt

Rachel Willis-Sørensen

Manuela Uhl

Simon Neal

Thomas Johannes Mayer

Anna Smirnova

Petra Lang

Bastiaan Everink

Paul Kaufmann

Noel Bouley

Alexei Botnarciuc

James Kryshak

Work's characters list

Director

Conductor

Heinrich der Vogler

Lohengrin

Lohengrin

Elsa von Brabant

Elsa von Brabant

Friedrich von Telramund

Friedrich von Telramund

Ortrud

Ortrud

Der Heerrufer des Königs

Vier brabantische Edle

Vier brabantische Edle

Vier brabantische Edle

Vier brabantische Edle

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