Release Date: 07 January 2005
Label: Naxos - Historical / Naxos Historical
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 3
Barcode: 636943123522
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: WAGNER, R.
Description
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)LohengrinThe legends, which eventually resulted in the operasTannhauser and Lohengrin, came to the notice ofWagner while he was in Paris in 1841. In the summer of1845 the composer returned to the Lohengrin story,briefly told in Wolfram von Eschenbach's poemParzival, and in fuller detail in an anonymousthirteenth-century German poem entitled Lohengrin anda French epic Le Chevalier au Cygne. Having drafted aprose scenario for a possible opera after returning toDresden on 3rd August, Wagner then set aboutconstructing the poem, which he completed by27th November. By 1846 he began composition on thework, starting with the Third Act first, then the First,and then the Second (which was completed by30th July), finally finishing with the opening Preludefor the opera, the whole complete draft being finishedon 29th August. (He had realised from the beginningthat the middle act would prove the most problematic.)The work was finished in full score by 28th April 1848.Six months later the composer conducted a concertperformance of the Finale of the First Act.Lohengrin was the last opera in which the composercould bring himself to make use of the moreconventional operatic expression; the stage is alive withcrowded scenes and awkward-looking trumpet-players,the chorus contributes much onlooker's comment, andthere are occasional ensembles for solo voices. Theopera was conceived as a drama in historical termsbetween Christianity and Paganism. Lohengrinrepresents the former, Ortrud (Wagner's own creation)and her husband Telramund the latter. Heinrich is thehistorical Henry the Fowler, King of Saxony andchampion of German unity against the invadingHungarians. Elsa of Brabant is accused of the abductionand murder of her brother Gottfried, heir to the BrabantKingdom. Her defender, a mysterious Knight, arrives inthe swan-drawn boat, defeats her accuser Telramund,egged on by Ortrud, and claims Elsa as his bride. Shemust not ask him to reveal his identity. The villainousOrtrud is determined to find the name of Elsa's husbandand demands she ask the forbidden question. Havingslain Telramund in self-defence, the Knight announceshe is Lohengrin, the son of Parsifal, a Knight of theHoly Grail at Montsalvat in Spain. At the end the swan,which had been transformed by Ortrud's witchcraft, isrestored as Gottfried.Wagner's part in the Dresden revolt of 1849obliged him to flee the Saxon state. Furthermore, theintended premi?â?¿re was removed from the schedule ofthe Court Opera. At the composer's request, Lohengrinwas first produced at the Court Theatre in Weimar on28th August 1850 under the direction of Liszt, whileWagner had taken refuge in Switzerland. The orchestracomprised 38 players, and the initial reception wasmuted, with the opera not taken up elsewhere. It waseventually given in Vienna in 1861, and later seen inLondon, Milan and St Petersburg. Thereafter it hasremained among the composer's most performedworks.Lohengrin has been popular with film-ma
Tracklisting
Various Artists
Various
Various
Various
Tullio Serafin
Soloists
Soloists
Soloists
