Classic Opera Returns
Designer Steffan Aarfing's eclectic costumes complement outstanding vocal performances.
The operas of Richard Wagner have rarely been performed in Moscow in modern times. In the years since the Second World War, only two of the composer's 10 great mature works, "The Flying Dutchman" and "Das Rheingold," have been produced locally, both at the Bolshoi Theater. Otherwise, Moscow has had no more than fleeting looks at seven of the 10 operas on visits here over the past decade by St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater.
The neglect of Wagner can no doubt be viewed, in part, as a legacy of Russia's wartime suffering at the hands of the composer's fellow countrymen. But it certainly also results from the difficulty and expense of mounting his operas and the dearth of singers -- as is so often apparent in Mariinsky performances -- with the vocal equipment and training required to deal with the music.
It came as quite a surprise, therefore, when Novaya Opera announced its decision to present Wagner's "Lohengrin" as its first new production of the current season. Though the theater has recently taken on two of the thorniest works in the entire operatic repertoire, Vincenzo Bellini's "Norma" and Giuseppe Verdi's "Nabucco," with great success, it nevertheless seemed reasonable to question whether musical resources were really available for such a huge undertaking as "Lohengrin."
The answer, at least as based on a preview performance at the end of February, turned out to be a resounding "yes."
"Lohengrin" is set in 10th-century Brabant, a former dukedom now split between Belgium and the Netherlands, and has among its characters one historical personage, King Henry the Fowler of Saxony. But the story is purely a creature of medieval legend. Elsa, daughter of the late Duke of Brabant, is accused by her kinsman, Friedrich Telramund, of murdering her brother, Gottfried, the heir to the dukedom.
A mysterious knight comes to her rescue and subsequently marries her, on condition that she ask neither his name nor his origin. But, goaded by Telramund's wife, Ortrud, Elsa poses the forbidden questions. The knight then reveals that he is Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, and bids Elsa farewell. At his departure, a swan appears and is suddenly transformed into the supposedly murdered Gottfried.
"Lohengrin," Wagner's first great success, was introduced to Russia in a production at the Mariinsky in 1868, 18 years after its premiere in Weimar, Germany. The opera's Moscow debut took place in 1889 at the Bolshoi, which went on to re-stage it in 1908 and 1923. The final performance of the latter production, in 1936, offered Moscow its last look at "Lohengrin" for some 72 years.
To handle the staging, Novaya Opera imported a production team from Denmark, headed by Kasper Holten, artistic director of Copenhagen's Royal Danish Opera. Originally scheduled to conduct it was the theater's own renowned musical director, Eri Klas. But illness forced Klas to withdraw shortly before the premiere.
To replace him for the first two performances the theater engaged the distinguished British maestro Jan Latham-Koenig, and to sing the title role at those performances, it procured the services of John Pierce, a veteran Wagnerian tenor from the United States.
Unfortunately, I missed both of Pierce's appearances. But the alternate cast I heard at the preview proved truly remarkable. Novaya Opera has long shown a knack for coming up with outstanding interpretations of very difficult roles by previously unheralded young soloists.
The preview cast of "Lohengrin" was no exception. Indeed, Novaya Opera managed to find a truly outstanding Wagner interpreter for every solo part, a feat that no other Moscow opera house, including the Bolshoi, could likely match with its current roster of vocal talent.
Director Holten gave the opera a nicely delineated staging of high European standard, much aided by the abstract, vaguely Gothic sets and eclectic mixture of costumes by designer Steffen Aarfing. Holten's sympathy clearly seemed to lie on the side of the bewildered and distraught Elsa, with Lohengrin coming across more a cad than a hero.
Though his tempos occasionally seemed a bit rushed, conductor Latham-Koenig gave what was overall a noble and authoritative account of the opera and proved particularly skillful at maintaining the difficult balance between the large orchestral forces and the singers on stage. Novaya Opera's orchestra displayed a few rough edges, but generally played quite well, and its chorus, with the huge amount of music Wagner assigned to it, sang gloriously throughout.
For the near future, performances of "Lohengrin" will be led by a member of Novaya Opera's house conducting staff. While wishing the chosen house conductor well, I would hazard a guess that "Lohengrin" is unlikely to reach the heights of its initial run until Latham-Koenig is lured back as a guest or Eri Klas, restored to health, takes on his originally scheduled duties in the pit.
By Raymond Stults
Friday, March 14, 2008 / The Moscow Times
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