# Lohengrin...................



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

One of my all time favorite operas. I never tire of it.

1. What are your opinions on this opera?
2. What recordings do you have?
3. Which ones are your favorites?
5. Have you seen it live?

thank you


----------



## expat (Mar 17, 2013)

Still a Wagner novice. I love the Barenboim. Love the energy of Act1. Act2 takes me more work. I guess I should read the libretto to start with...but I am currently in the middle of the Ring so will take a few more months.


----------



## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

I like it fine. Some parts better than others. I have two versions: the Rudolf Kempe from the early sixties commercial recording and the Von Matacic that comes with the Wagner's Vision set. Haven't listened to the latter yet but the former was my first recording of a complete Wagner opera. I saw this opera in 1985 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

I like it. I have the Domingo DVD with Cheryl Studer as Elsa. Not my favorite work of art but to me the libretto is very enjoyable.


----------



## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

1. Of all of Wagner's operas, it's my favorite.
2. I have the CD recording (studio) with Abbado conducting Siegfried Jerusalem, Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Hartmut Welker, and Kurt Moll, and the DVD of the Bavarian State Opera production by Richard Jones (Elsa and Lohengrin as homebuilders) with Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Michaela Schuster, Wolfgang Koch, and Christof Fischesser. 
3. Of the two, I slightly prefer the cast of the DVD to that of the CD (hard to argue with Waltraud Meier and Kurt Moll, though), but both are very good. I'm not wild about Jones' staging, but Kaufmann and Harteros are so good that I focus on their singing and pretty much ignore Jones' "concept."
4. I've seen it live twice: first at the Canadian Opera in the mid-'80s with Jerusalem and Ellen Shade as Elsa, and two years later at the New Orleans Opera with Jerusalem (yes, there's a theme here) and Johanna Meier as Elsa. The Toronto production was a little strange: it assumed that Elsa had killed her brother, and then was so crazy with guilt that she hallucinated Lohengrin and everything else. Of course, there was a rude awakening at the end when a couple of knights walked in with the body of the dead Gottfried. Poor Ellen Shade had to spend the evening acting like a goggle-eyed wacko, and poor Jerusalem was stuck in a goofy costume that made him look like some sort of medieval male pin-up. (A knight in shining lamé, one reviewer called it.) The New Orleans production was straight-forward traditional.


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

MAuer said:


> ...The Toronto production was a little strange: it assumed that Elsa had killed her brother, and then was so crazy with guilt that she hallucinated Lohengrin and everything else. Of course, there was a rude awakening at the end when a couple of knights walked in with the body of the dead Gottfried. Poor Ellen Shade had to spend the evening acting like a goggle-eyed wacko, and poor Jerusalem was stuck in a goofy costume that made him look like some sort of medieval male pin-up. (A knight in shining lamé, one reviewer called it.)...


Love the review!


----------



## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

MAuer said:


> 1. Of all of Wagner's operas, it's my favorite.
> 2. I have the CD recording (studio) with Abbado conducting Siegfried Jerusalem, Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Hartmut Welker, and Kurt Moll, and the DVD of the Bavarian State Opera production by Richard Jones (Elsa and Lohengrin as homebuilders) with Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Michaela Schuster, Wolfgang Koch, and Christof Fischesser.
> 3. Of the two, I slightly prefer the cast of the DVD to that of the CD (hard to argue with Waltraud Meier and Kurt Moll, though), but both are very good. I'm not wild about Jones' staging, but Kaufmann and Harteros are so good that I focus on their singing and pretty much ignore Jones' "concept."
> 4. I've seen it live twice: first at the Canadian Opera in the mid-'80s with Jerusalem and Ellen Shade as Elsa, and two years later at the New Orleans Opera with Jerusalem (yes, there's a theme here) and Johanna Meier as Elsa. The Toronto production was a little strange: it assumed that Elsa had killed her brother, and then was so crazy with guilt that she hallucinated Lohengrin and everything else. Of course, there was a rude awakening at the end when a couple of knights walked in with the body of the dead Gottfried. Poor Ellen Shade had to spend the evening acting like a goggle-eyed wacko, and poor Jerusalem was stuck in a goofy costume that made him look like some sort of medieval male pin-up. (A knight in shining lamé, one reviewer called it.) The New Orleans production was straight-forward traditional.


Good grief! Home builders and lamé.


----------



## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Itullian said:


> What are your opinions on this opera?


a sacred, religious masterpiece, the same as Parsifal and Tanhauser.



guythegreg said:


> I have the Domingo DVD with Cheryl Studer as Elsa


...with Robert Lloyd and Abbado conducting, yes, the best Lohengrin DVD of all existing


----------



## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

MAuer said:


> The Toronto production was a little strange: it assumed that Elsa had killed her brother


that sort of 'productions' is not productions actually but an intended act of *sabotage* against the best of mankind's heritage.


----------



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Oh dear, where to start. I first saw Lohengrin at Bayreuth in 1971 with Kollo and conducted by Varviso - typical copy production by Wolfgang Wagner of Wieland Wagner's original. I caught up with Wieland's production in Stuttgart (Wieland's 2nd home) in 1976 with the young, about to be world famous, Peter Hofmann. C. Leitner.
Saw the Moshinsky production at CG in 1977 With Kollo c. Haitink. This was excellent.
I also saw productions in Köln, Düsseldorf, Berlin and a great one in Munich in 1978 again with Kollo and one of my favorite sopranos, Caterina Ligendza. conducted by sawallisch and Everding produced. Great.
Saw the Abbado performance that is now on DVD - sitting midway back in the stalls. I did not much like Domingo in the title role. In fact I have never much liked him singing Wagner at all.
As for recordings including live performances, I have around 120 different versions.

Best commercial recording is Rudolf Kempe - this is a standout
Best commercial live performance Sawallisch - Bayreuth 1962.
Favorite Lohengrin - Jonas Kaufmann or Lauritz Melchior
Favorite Elsa - Caterina Ligendza or Elizabeth Rethberg
Favorite Ortrud - Astrid Varnay or Christa Ludwig
Favorite Telramund - Fischer-Dieskau or Walter Berry
Favorite King Henry - Robert Lloyd or Maarti Talvela
conducted by Kempe or Sawallisch or Böhm.


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Yes, I like _Lohengrin_.

I have several recordings, some of them already mentioned. Just to provide some other recommendation, not for the Lohengrin newbie but for someone already familiar with the basics, this is a great CD:



with Franz Völker singing Lohengrin. Those are excerpts, though.

I've watched the opera live in the theater several times. The next one, this same season, at Teatro Real.


----------



## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Pip said:


> [...] Saw the Abbado performance that is now on DVD - sitting midway back in the stalls. I did not much like Domingo in the title role. In fact I have never much liked him singing Wagner at all. [...]
> Best commercial recording is Rudolf Kempe - this is a standout. [...]


Pip, this is an example how a small mind (mine) and a great one (yours) can still think identically, sometimes.


----------



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Revenant said:


> Pip, this is an example how a small mind (mine) and a great one (yours) can still think identically, sometimes.


Don't sell yourself short - I am just a long way further down the road than you. I m guessing that your age is roughly half of mine.
I was a young man when that Kempe recording came out, and all of the singers and participants were still alive and kicking/Singing as well, so it was easier in a way to arrive at conclusions.
With everything that has been issued since, it has never been surpassed.
I was lucky, I saw Kempe a lot, and all of the singers as well.


----------



## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Pip said:


> Don't sell yourself short - I am just a long way further down the road than you. I m guessing that your age is roughly half of mine.
> I was a young man when that Kempe recording came out, and all of the singers and participants were still alive and kicking/Singing as well, so it was easier in a way to arrive at conclusions.
> With everything that has been issued since, it has never been surpassed.
> I was lucky, I saw Kempe a lot, and all of the singers as well.


Not half as young as you Pip (unless you're 132 years old!), just a late, very late arrival to most of Wagner. Tannhauser and Lohengrin I did like from my youth, but couldn't get into the rest of Wager. I first listened to the Kempe in 1966.


----------



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Revenant said:


> Not half as young as you Pip (unless you're 132 years old!), just a late, very late arrival to most of Wagner. Tannhauser and Lohengrin I did like from my youth, but couldn't get into the rest of Wager. I first listened to the Kempe in 1966.


well sir, that makes us contemporaries. As I write this I am listening to Stokowski's live debut concert with the Chicago symphony in 1958. No Wagner in the program me but he was a genius for orchestral colour and probably conducted the greatest Wotan's Farewell ever. with Lawrence Tibbett.


----------



## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Pip said:


> well sir, that makes us contemporaries. As I write this I am listening to Stokowski's live debut concert with the Chicago symphony in 1958. No Wagner in the program me but he was a genius for orchestral colour and probably conducted the greatest Wotan's Farewell ever. with Lawrence Tibbett.


So highly admired. Even when it was just Bugs Bunny impersonating him he made the orchestra members gush "Leopold!" I was just listening to Tibbett's Wotan's Farewell yesterday. Too bad he never recorded the Ring. Born too early I guess. And he could never have done it after his 1940 vocal crisis. The 1939 recording of the live Met production of Simon Boccanegra is one of my most cherished recordings.


----------



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

Revenant said:


> So highly admired. Even when it was just Bugs Bunny impersonating him he made the orchestra members gush "Leopold!" I was just listening to Tibbett's Wotan's Farewell yesterday. Too bad he never recorded the Ring. Born too early I guess. And he could never have done it after his 1940 vocal crisis. The 1939 recording of the live Met production of Simon Boccanegra is one of my most cherished recordings.


I agree, especially after his vocal crisis, but I seriously doubt that the Met would have let him cross over - I know they let him sing Wolfram but the Wagner wing at the Met was pretty strong, and they did not want any Verdi interlopers treading on their toes.
My greatest regret about Tibbett is never having heard his Amonasro - just the duet "Ciel mio padre" would have done, but he never did a broadcast. 
No matter, we have so many riches with him.

As this is a Lohengrin thread - I will introduce a new one - just issued on the German Orfeo label - I just bought it. Great!
Vienna State Opera 1964 c. Karl Böhm - Claire Watson, Jess Thomas, Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry and Martti Talvela, and Waechter as the Herald.
Excellent live mono sound - it was a new production by Wieland Wagner (more or less the same as the Bayreuth/Stuttgart ones)
Try find a cast as good as that today. I know we have Kaufmann and Harteros ,but the rest are certainly not to be found.
Claire Watson was one of the finest and most underrated Wagner sopranos of all. She had a long career singing the lesser
Wagner heroines and was a tremendous Mozart and Strauss interpreter. Her Marschallin was lovely.
I especially liked her Sieglinde, which can be seen on a b/w video conducted by Knappersbusch of a concert performance of Act 1 from Vienna in 1963.


----------



## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

Lohengrin has grown on me over the years, but I think it needs a slightly different, lighter tenor sound to really take off (so no Melchior or Domingo for me). Of the 15 or so tenors that I've heard in the role, the palm clearly belongs to Völker. His voice was at its peak in the 1936 recording of highlights, but the overall sound is a challenge. Luckily the '42 Heger recording has much better sound with Völker still in excellent voice. Unfortunately the recording is hard to run down. Too bad Vickers declined to record the role.


----------



## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

It's growing on me. It's one of those operas where the director can be quite inventive.

I have most of the DVD available but my favourite is still the Lehnhoff/Nagano production with Klaus Florian Vogt. I like him in this role, I think his voice suits it. I am also a fan of him in the rats Lohengrin from Bayreuth.

Not yet got a cd version, should I go for a modern one?


----------



## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

A beautiful work.

I recently acquired this recording and it's truly splendid:


----------



## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

What is the Bychkov/Botha recording like?
Read lots of great reviews about the conducting and singing.
Not a huge fan of Botha's though. Maybe on cd he is better than on DVD


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Oreb said:


> A beautiful work.
> 
> I recently acquired this recording and it's truly splendid:
> 
> View attachment 25199


Never seen this before. Is it available?


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> Never seen this before. Is it available?


Looks like a pirate version to me.


----------



## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Yes - it's a pirate and it's available from an excellent and reputable site called Celestial Audio. I know a number of opera collectors who get stuff from there. By the way - I have absolutely no connection to the site other than being a customer.

The sound is very fine and for me, as long as a commercial recording of the performance is not available it's not an ethical problem. (But please let me know if I have breeched protocol by posting about it. If so I will delete my post with apologies)

http://www.celestialaudio.com.au/0INTRO.htm


----------



## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Oreb said:


> I recently acquired this recording and it's truly splendid:
> 
> View attachment 25199


its production sucks


----------



## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

That's the advantage of CDs over DVDs!


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Pip said:


> Oh dear, where to start. I first saw Lohengrin at Bayreuth in 1971 with Kollo and conducted by Varviso - typical copy production by Wolfgang Wagner of Wieland Wagner's original. I caught up with Wieland's production in Stuttgart (Wieland's 2nd home) in 1976 with the young, about to be world famous, Peter Hofmann. C. Leitner.
> Saw the Moshinsky production at CG in 1977 With Kollo c. Haitink. This was excellent.
> I also saw productions in Köln, Düsseldorf, Berlin and a great one in Munich in 1978 again with Kollo and one of my favorite sopranos, Caterina Ligendza. conducted by sawallisch and Everding produced. Great.
> Saw the Abbado performance that is now on DVD - sitting midway back in the stalls. I did not much like Domingo in the title role. In fact I have never much liked him singing Wagner at all.
> ...


Jess Thomas is best Lohengrin I have ever heard (Kaufmann is great also), those two CD sets (studio and live) are reference for me also....I think Itullian shares this view


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

DarkAngel said:


> Jess Thomas is best Lohengrin I have ever heard, those two CD sets (studio and live) are reference for me also....*I think Itullian shares this view*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yup, he does, erm, I do. 
Thanks for the mention DA.


----------



## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Went for the Botha/Bychkov cd....enjoying it so far


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Yashin said:


> Went for the Botha/Bychkov cd....enjoying it so far


How are the Acts layed out on each disc?


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Itullian said:


> One of my all time favorite operas. I never tire of it.
> 
> 1. What are your opinions on this opera?
> 2. What recordings do you have?
> ...


1. It is a masterpiece, just like the other ones. All of it, from the first note to the last, though some peope manage to find something controversial in it too. The Prelude to the first act is a masterpiece all by itself.

2. I have the 1976 Karajan and Berliner Philarmoniker recording with Rene Kollo in the title role and the 1963 Rudolf Kempe and Wiener Philarmoniker recording with Jess Thomas in the title role and Dietrich Fischer-Diskau as Friedrich von Telramund.

3. I like the Kempe one better.

4. I will, at some better time, when European theatres stop murdering it.


----------



## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Itullian said:


> How are the Acts layed out on each disc?


Sorry, not sure but I thought I read somewhere the laying out could be better.

I downloaded from iTunes since I end up ripping everything on disc into there anyway


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Yashin said:


> Sorry, not sure but I thought I read somewhere the laying out could be better.
> 
> I downloaded from iTunes since I end up ripping everything on disc into there anyway


Thank you...............


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Itullian said:


> 1. What are your opinions on this opera?
> 2. What recordings do you have?
> 3. Which ones are your favorites?
> 4. Have you seen it live?


1. If _Rienzi_ was "Meyerbeer's best opera", then _Lohengrin_ is Wagner's best "opera". Let me qualify: there was better to come in the music-dramas that followed, but _Lohengrin_ stands as the crowning glory of Wagner's middle-period, and is one of the best operas ever written.

2. Abbado, Barenboim, Böhm, Bychkov, Heger, Jochum (Munich 1952/Bayreuth 1954), Karajan, Keilberth, Kempe, Kubelík, Matačič, Sawallisch, Schüchter, Solti, Swarowsky, Varviso. I may have missed a couple out.

3. _Lohengrin_ has been well-served on record, whether in studio or live recordings, and all the above are well worth hearing. Of the live recordings the Matačič is rather wonderful, and recently I've been impressed by the Böhm 1965 Vienna recording (Orfeo, 2013), which I bought in Bayreuth this summer. Of the studio recordings, the Kempe still remains the must-have recording, with Karajan arguably taking second place.

4. I saw it live for the first time this year, in a splendid production by Welsh National Opera. Cast, chorus and orchestra were magnificent, under the superb leadership of Lothar Königs in the pit. Although I favour late-period Wagner on the whole, seeing _Lohengrin_ performed on stage impressed me deeply, and showed just what a masterpiece this transitional work really is.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> 1. If _Rienzi_ was "Meyerbeer's best opera", then _Lohengrin_ is Wagner's best "opera". Let me qualify: there was better to come in the music-dramas that followed, but _Lohengrin_ stands as the crowning glory of Wagner's middle-period, and is one of the best operas ever written.
> 
> 2. Abbado, Barenboim, Böhm, Bychkov, Heger, Jochum (Munich 1952/Bayreuth 1954), Karajan, Keilberth, Kempe, Kubelík, Matačič, Sawallisch, Schüchter, Solti, Swarowsky, Varviso. I may have missed a couple out.
> 
> ...


I enjoy the Karajan very much as well.
The Solti deserves mention too.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

My recordings so far........

1 Kempe
2 Solti
3 Karajan
4 Sawallisch
5 Davis

next up
Jochum, Matacic, Bohm, Keilberth


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

A couple live 1950s versions with golden era singers in prime voice.....1953 Keilberth/Bayreuth and 1954 Jochum/Bayreuth, both have Windgassen in prime voice as Lohengrin. I would take either of these over Karajan version with Kollo

Jochum may not be a great Wagner conductor but his 1954 dream cast is stellar, good couple Windgassen/Nilsson vs evil couple Uhde/Varnay, Astrid makes strong case for best Ortud on record......


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

DarkAngel said:


> A couple live 1950s versions with golden era singers in prime voice.....1953 Keilberth/Bayreuth and 1954 Jochum/Bayreuth, both have Windgassen in prime voice as Lohengrin. I would take either of these over Karajan version with Kollo
> 
> Jochum may not be a great Wagner conductor but his 1954 dream cast is stellar, good couple Windgassen/Nilsson vs evil couple Uhde/Varnay, Astrid makes strong case for best Ortud on record......


Thanks DA. You always know the best recordings.
They're on my to buy list.


----------



## jhuizinga (Feb 3, 2013)

DarkAngel said:


> A couple live 1950s versions with golden era singers in prime voice.....1953 Keilberth/Bayreuth and 1954 Jochum/Bayreuth, both have Windgassen in prime voice as Lohengrin. I would take either of these over Karajan version with Kollo
> 
> Jochum may not be a great Wagner conductor but his 1954 dream cast is stellar, good couple Windgassen/Nilsson vs evil couple Uhde/Varnay, Astrid makes strong case for best Ortud on record......


I find Elsa the least suitable Wagner role for Nilsson and that her familiar intonational issues coupled with the white sound are not appealing to me. Jochum is fine and Windgassen is at his best, though the sound remains an acquired taste. I don't think there's a Konya/Ligendza recording.


----------



## Signor Crescendo (May 8, 2014)

Goodie! A chance to say something nice about Wagner.
*
1. What are your opinions on this opera?*

This is my favourite Wagner, and the one that captured my imagination. The story and setting are interesting (a battle between good and evil in mediaeval Belgium, so picturesque). It moves, by and large, briskly: it's more dramatic than _Tannhauser_ or the _Dutchman_, and less long-winded than the late works. Wagner's dealing with people, rather than metaphysical abstractions (Telramund and Elsa are the most sympathetic characters in Wagner); and Ortrud is Wagner's most effective villain, because she _acts_. The music is superb: Act I is one of the best things Wagner ever wrote: a wealth of good music -- excellent choruses, Elsa's prayer, Lohengrin's arrival, and the rousing (and very hummable) finale -- and it _moves_ briskly. Act III bogs down, with the Lohengrin/Elsa duet (the dullest thing in the piece), but once it gets back to the shores of the Schelde, it's excellent: the Grail Narration is sublime.

*2. What recordings do you have?*
The Rudolf Kempe one with Thomas, Fischer-Dieskau, Grümmer, Ludwig and Frick - i.e., the who's who of German singers.
The Sawallisch recording on the _Operas from Bayreuth_ collection, with Thomas, Silja, Vinay and Varnay
DVD: Abbado, with Domingo.

*3. Which ones are your favorites?*
The Kempe.

*5. Have you seen it live?*
No.


----------



## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

Sorry to necro a thread, but I was wondering if anybody has seen this performance of Lohengrin and what they thought of it.









http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Loheng...p/B000FVQUNA/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdt_img_top?ie=UTF8


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My second Lonengrin (after keilberth 1953 in my complete Wagner opera set) 
Purchased because it is a great recording, I got a great deal on it,
it has a very youthful Anja Silja, and I am really getting into this opera.


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

^^^^ Newest packaging looks like this, live 62 Bayreuth performance a couple years before the famous Kempe EMI studio in many ways I like it even more, Jess Thomas my very favorite swan knight gives unforgettable glorious performance....


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Everyone has a special one, I always come back to this one:










:tiphat:


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Everyone has a special one, I always come back to this one:
> [Keilberth 1953]


Hey, that's the one that came with my complete Wagner opera set! 

Also I want someday to get the one with Waltraud Meier. But here is a fascinating one featuring Camilla Nylund as Elsa that I might also like to get (CLIPS):


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

It is the only Wagner opera that is not part of the Ring Cycle that I am crazy for. Meistersinger is of course full some great music, but I get more involved in Lohengrin. The story. The music. The CHORUS! With a good cast this is a sensational opera. I saw a great version with a good looking Lohengren at Seattle Opera. Can you imagine seeing it with Nilsson and Varnay in their primes!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> It is the only Wagner opera that is not part of the Ring Cycle that I am crazy for. Meistersinger is of course full some great music, but I get more involved in Lohengrin. The story. The music. The CHORUS! With a good cast this is a sensational opera. I saw a great version with a good looking Lohengren at Seattle Opera. Can you imagine seeing it with Nilsson and Varnay in their primes!!!!!!!!!!


I do admire your enthusiasm, always polite :tiphat:


----------



## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

My DVDs arrived yesterday and I'm thrilled. I now have all 10 Wagner operas on Bluray. Err, scratch that. Since I have the attention span of a fruit fly, I realized _Lohengrin_ WAS included in the Bayreuth set. So now, I have 2 _Lohengrins_ and zero _Parsifals_. D'oh!


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

scratchgolf said:


> My DVDs arrived yesterday and I'm thrilled. I now have all 10 *Wagner operas on Bluray*. Err, scratch that. Since I have the attention span of a fruit fly, I realized _Lohengrin_ WAS included in the Bayreuth set. So now, I have 2 _Lohengrins_ and* zero Parsifals*. D'oh!












Another press of the buy button is required, so close can't stop now..........


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DarkAngel said:


> Another press of the buy button is required, so close can't stop now..........


Pushes DarkAngel to the shopping basket and saying:..................... go one let your hair down :tiphat:


----------



## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Arrives on Friday 

And I did get the Kaufmann _Lohengrin_. You're the best.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The Sawallisch Lohengrin I posted above never arrived. Turns out the seller discovered a missing disk. So I get a refund. But I decided to get this one instead:


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Florestan said:


> The Sawallisch Lohengrin I posted above never arrived. Turns out the seller discovered a missing disk. So I get a refund. But I decided to get this one instead


Not a bad compromise by any means - it's one of my favourite _Lohengrin_ recordings. In fact, I've only got two _Lohengrins_ "loaded" into iTunes at the moment; one is Abbado's, the other is Kempe's.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Not a bad compromise by any means - it's one of my favourite _Lohengrin_ recordings. In fact, I've only got two _Lohengrins_ "loaded" into iTunes at the moment; one is Abbado's, the other is Kempe's.


My other Lohengrin is Keilberth 1953 which already has Varnay, so one more reason to not necessarily get the Sawallish recording.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Florestan said:


> My other Lohengrin is Keilberth 1953 which already has Varnay, so one more reason to not necessarily get the Sawallish recording.


You must get the Kempe bro. :tiphat:


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Itullian said:


> You must get the Kempe bro. :tiphat:


That's the one that Woodduck recommended. I'll keep it in mind. Perhaps someday.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Florestan said:


> That's the one that Woodduck recommended. I'll keep it in mind. Perhaps someday.


Whilst I think you will enjoy the Abbado, Itullian is right, the Kempe is essential too.

N.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Florestan said:


> That's the one that Woodduck recommended. I'll keep it in mind. Perhaps someday.


It's pretty close to the consensus top recording by many, although not by me. Excellent recording in almost every respect except for the appallingly nasal and unpleasant Otto Wiener as the Herald. Normally not an important enough role to disqualify a recording, but he's so wretched that it pulls me out of the spell of the opera every time he breaks in.

I'd recommend the Kubelik with Janowitz and King, the Matacic with Grummer and Konya, or the Heger with Volker and Muller.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Well my Abbado set has not arrived yet, so I am in no hurry to add a third set. But will keep in mind the other recommendations.


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Ive just finished listening to Lohengrin from Sazburg 1976. Kollo, Tomowa-Sintow, Riddersbusch, Schroeder-Feining and Karajan conducting. What a different person Karajan was live. This is a fabulous Lohengrin. Passionate, intense, otherworldly and superbly played and sung. This moves into my top half dozen Lohengrins.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Florestan said:


>


Just received this edition two weeks ago. It's my first Lohengrin. I like it a lot after just one listen. Beautiful music, singing, and I love operas with a good chorus. And that prelude is sublime!


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

starthrower said:


> Just received this edition two weeks ago. It's my first Lohengrin. I like it a lot after just one listen. Beautiful music, singing, and I love operas with a good chorus. And that prelude is sublime!


I have the one with Waltraud Meier, but Silja would be great also. Maybe I have more shopping to do.


----------



## KirbyH (Jun 30, 2015)

Ah Lohengrin - this is the only Wagner opera I own a significant duplicity of: Kempe, Sawallisch, Levine, Solti, and Keilberth. Of these, the Sawallisch has long been my favorite, for not only the excellently captured Bayreuth acoustic but for the Ortrud of Astrid Varnay and the Elsa of Anja Silja. It's a great document and even though the Bayreuth pit band is a "come together" sort of affair, they sound wonderful. The Keilberth is in much the same league but they can't compete with Decca's wonderful sonics. Three of the aforementioned are all with different flavors of the Vienna Phil - they are smooth and limpid for Kempe, thunderous and sonically overbearing for Solti, and golden-throated and sumptuous for Abbado. There are no bad singers on any of these sets, to my ears at least. I'd say they are all worth hearing.

The Levine is an animal of a whole different stripe - there's energy in boundless measure, Ben Heppner is supreme as the Swan Knight, and Deb Voight sings Elsa with beauty if not a great deal of acting. Fine - but it's worth seeking out for not only the superb MET Orchestra but as a document of Levine's legacy within this institution. I could literally gush about this recording all day.


----------



## cheftimmyr (Oct 28, 2015)

starthrower said:


> Just received this edition two weeks ago. It's my first Lohengrin. I like it a lot after just one listen. Beautiful music, singing, and I love operas with a good chorus. And that prelude is sublime!


Thomas sets the gold standard as Lohengrin, for me (and his Parsifal)... When he starts "in fernum land" I melt... I haven't heard anyone to even compete with Varnay as Ortrud. Sawallisch leads an engaging and emotional performance. I also love the Kempe performance, with Grummer's pure and resplendent Elsa....

The music is heavenly


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Steber is still my all time favourite Elsa .


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

cheftimmyr said:


> Thomas sets the gold standard as Lohengrin, for me (and his Parsifal)... When he starts "in fernum land" I melt... I haven't heard anyone to even compete with Varnay as Ortrud. Sawallisch leads an engaging and emotional performance. I also love the Kempe performance, with Grummer's pure and resplendent Elsa....
> 
> The music is heavenly


I'd put Christa Ludwig's Ortrud on the same level with Varnay's. Maybe Varnay's big, cutting, "ugly" voice gives her a slight edge, but not for me. Going back a generation, have you heard Margarete Klose? Splendidly witchy - and a great Fricka as well.






I like the team of Varnay and Uhde as Ortrud and Telramund on the old Bayreuth set under Keilberth, which also has Pugg's favorite Elsa, Eleanor Steber. But that set is compromised for me by Windgassen. Lohengrin, more than any Wagner tenor role except possibly Walther (in which I can't take him either), needs a lovelier sound than he could ever make.


----------



## Ginger (Jul 14, 2016)

I have seen Lohengrin with Klaus Florian Vogt many times now and he will always be "my" Lohengrin. His voice is so lovely and clear. Simply perfect for the innocent Gralsritter.


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

SiegendesLicht said:


> 2. I have the 1976 Karajan and Berliner Philarmoniker recording with Rene Kollo in the title role and the 1963 Rudolf Kempe and Wiener Philarmoniker recording with Jess Thomas in the title role and Dietrich Fischer-Diskau as Friedrich von Telramund.
> 
> 3. I like the Kempe one better.


I wrote that almost three years ago, and now I find I like the Karajan/BPO with Rene Kollo better. His voice is just so youthful and innocent-sounding. I've been listening to that recording all last week and cannot stop. I intend to obtain the Keilberth/Bayreuth Orchestra recording next.


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

SiegendesLicht said:


> I wrote that almost three years ago, and now I find I like the Karajan/BPO with Rene Kollo better. His voice is just so youthful and innocent-sounding. I've been listening to that recording all last week and cannot stop. I intend to obtain the Keilberth/Bayreuth Orchestra recording next.


See my post #60. I like it better than the studio version. I got mine from Opera Depot. I don't think you will be disappointed.


----------

