Lohengrin (opera)

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Lohengrin (opera)

Lohengrin is a romantic opera

Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
(or music drama) in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, Conducting, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas . Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works....
.

The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival
Parzival

Parzival is a major medieval Germany epic poem attributed to the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, written in the Middle High German language. The poem is commonly dated circa the first quarter of the 13th century....
of Wolfram von Eschenbach

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Wolfram von Eschenbach was a Germany knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poetry poets of his time. As a Minnesang, he also wrote lyric poetry....
and its sequel, Lohengrin
Lohengrin

Lohengrin is a character in some Germany Arthurian literature. The son of Percival , he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity....
, written by a different author, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain

Garin le Loherain

The 12th century chanson de geste of Garin le Loherain is one of the fiercest and most sanguinary narratives left by the trouv?res. This local cycle of Lorraine , which is completed by Hervis de Metz, Girbers de Metz, Ansis, fils de Girbert, and Von, appears to have an historical basis....
. It is part of the Knight of the Swan

Knight of the Swan

The story of the Knight of the Swan, or Swan Knight, is a medieval tale about a mysterious rescuer who comes in a swan-drawn boat to defend a damsel, his only condition being that he must never be asked his name....
tradition.

The opera has proved inspirational towards other works of art.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Lohengrin (opera)'

Start a new discussion about 'Lohengrin (opera)'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Lohengrin is a romantic opera

Opera

Richard Wagner

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Garin le Loherain

Knight of the Swan

Ludwig II of Bavaria

Ludwig II was king of Kingdom of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes referred to as the Swan King in English language and der M?rchenk?nig in German language....
. 'Der Märchenkönig' ('The Fairy-tale King') as he was dubbed later built his ideal fairy-tale castle and dubbed it "New Swan Stone," or "Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Kingdom of Bavaria palace on a rugged hill near Hohenschwangau and F?ssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany....
," after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to build a theatre for, compose and stage his epic cycle, the Ring of the Nibelung
Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen is a literature cycle of four epic poetry music dramas by the Germany composer Richard Wagner. The operas are based loosely on characters from the Sagas and the Nibelungenlied....
.

Several excerpts have become famous, including the preludes

Prelude (music)

A prelude is a short Musical piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque Age, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand alone piece of work during the Romantic Era....
to the first and third acts, the opening music to Act II, Scene 4, which has been converted into the concert band

Concert band

A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, or wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family and percussion instrument family....
piece "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral", Lohengrin's aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment....
In fernem Land (Act III, Scene 3), and the Bridal Chorus

Bridal Chorus

Performance history

The first production was in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany. It is located in the States of Germany of Thuringia , north of the Th?ringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and Leipzig....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
on 28 August 1850 at the Staatskapelle Weimar

Staatskapelle Weimar

The Staatskapelle Weimar is a orchestra based in Weimar, Germany.The precursor ensemble of Staatskapelle Weimar dates from 1482, with the formation of a musical ensemble in service of the Weimar F?rsten ....
under the direction of Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt was a Kingdom of Hungary composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher.Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 19th century....
, a close friend and early supporter of Wagner. Liszt chose the date in honour of Weimar's most famous citizen, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

was a Germans writer and according to George Eliot, "Germany's greatest man of letters? and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, philosophy, humanism and science....
, who was born on 28 August 1749. It was an immediate popular success.

Other premieres include:

Riga
Riga

Riga the Capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the river Daugava River. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states....
, 5 February 1855: first performance abroad
New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, 3 April 1871: first performance in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
Bologna
Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Po Valley , between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, exactly between the Reno River and the S?vena River....
, 1 November 1871, Teatro Communale: first performance in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, and the first performance of any Wagner opera in Italy; conductor: Angelo Mariani
Angelo Mariani (conductor)

Angelo Mariani was an Italians opera conductor and composer. His work as a conductor drew praise from Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Gioachino Rossini and Richard Wagner, and he was a longtime personal friend of Verdi's, although they became estranged towards the end of Mariani's life....
London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, 8 May 1875, Covent Garden Theatre (in Italian), first performance in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
Melbourne
Melbourne

Melbourne is the more common name for the geographic region and Census in Australia of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area. It is the second List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million and serves as the List of Australian capital cities of Victoria ....
, 18 August 1877, Prince of Wales Theatre: first performance in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 28 August 1850 (Conductor: Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Franz Liszt was a Kingdom of Hungary composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher.Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 19th century.... )
Lohengrin	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....	Carl Beck Carl Beck Carl Linnwood Beck was a professional American football player from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After attending high school, Beck attended the West Virginia University, Bucknell University and Lafayette College....
Elsa of Brabant	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....	Rosa von Milde-Agthe
Ortrud, Telramund's wife	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of European classical music female voice type whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above ....	Fastlinger
Friedrich of Telramund, a Count of Brabant	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of European classical music male voice type that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice....	Hans von Milde Hans von Milde Hans Feodor von Milde was an Austrian opera baritone and the husband of soprano Rosa von Milde-Agthe. He sang for almost four decades at the opera house in Weimar where he particularly excelled in the works of Richard Wagner....
Heinrich der Vogler (Henry the Fowler)	bass	Höfer
The King's Herald	baritone	August Pätsch
Four Noblemen of Brabant	tenors, basses
Four Pages	sopranos, alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high", that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano.... s
Duke Gottfried, Elsa's brother	silent	Hellstedt
Saxon, Thuringian, and Brabantian counts and nobles, ladies of honor, pages, vassals, serfs

Synopsis

Place: Antwerp

Antwerp

||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions....
, on the Scheldt

Scheldt

The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sceald "shallow", English language shoal, Low German schol, Frisian languages skol, and Swedish language sk?ll "thin"....
.

Time: 10th century

Act 1

King Henry the Fowler has arrived in Brabant

Duchy of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of not only the three modern-day Belgium provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp as well as the Brussels-Capital Region, but also the present-day Netherlands province of North Brabant....
where he has assembled the German tribes in order to expel the Hungarians from his dominions. Count Telramund acts as regent for Duke Gottfried of Brabant, a minor and brother to Elsa. Gottfried has mysteriously disappeared and Telramund, incited by his wife, Ortrud, accuses Elsa of murdering her brother and demands that she give him the dukedom.

Elsa appears surrounded by her attendants and, knowing herself innocent, declares that she is willing to submit to the judgment of God through the ordeal of combat. Elsa chooses a knight she has beheld in her dreams as her champion (Narrative: "Alone in dark days.") and sinks to her knees and prays that God send her relief. Telramund, at the behest of the king, agrees to fight.

At first, the Herald calls upon the unknown knight in vain. When he calls the second time, however, a miracle takes place. A boat drawn by a swan appears on the river and in it stands a knight in shining armour. He lands and dismisses the swan before respectfully greeting the king and asks Elsa if she will have him as her champion. Elsa kneels in front of him and places her honour in his keeping. He asks but one thing in return for his service: she is never to ask him who he is or where he has come from. Elsa agrees to this and the combat area is prepared. After everyone apart from Ortrud has prayed, the combat commences. Telramund is defeated, but the victor grants him his life. Taking Elsa by the hand, the unknown knight declares her as innocent and asks for her hand in marriage.

Act 2

Night in the courtyard outside the cathedral. Telramund and Ortrud, both banished, appear in tattered garments. Ortrud, a heathen witch, daughter of Radbod, the Duke of Frisia, tries to revive Telramund's courage. She plots to induce Elsa to violate the mysterious knight's only condition.

When Elsa appears on the balcony in the light of the morning, she sees Ortrud and takes pity upon her. Telramund, unobserved, retires into the shadow of a house. The populace assembles and the Herald announces that the king has offered to make the unnamed knight the Duke of Brabant. He refuses the title, however, and requests to be known only as "Guardian of Brabant."

As the king, the Knight, Elsa and her attendants are about to enter the church, Ortrud, clad in magnificent attire, appears and accuses the Guardian of Brabant of being a magician. Telramund also appears. He claims to have been vanquished by fraud, as he does not know the name of his opponent, and neither does the wife-to-be herself. Lohengrin refuses to reveal his identity and claims that only one has the right to know his origin -- Elsa and Elsa alone. Elsa, though visibly shaken and uncertain, assures him of her confidence and they enter the church together. Telramund, however, has managed to recruit four knights to his cause.

Act 3

The bridal chamber. Elsa and her new husband are ushered in with the well-known bridal chorus

Bridal Chorus

The "Bridal Chorus" from the opera Lohengrin , by Germany composer Richard Wagner, is the standard march played for the bride's entrance at some formal weddings throughout the Western world....
, and the couple express their love for each other. Ortrud's words, however, are impressed upon Elsa, and, despite his warning, she asks her husband the fatal question. Telramund and his four recruits rush into the room in order to attack the strange knight. Instead it is Telramund who is slain. The Knight sorrowfully turns to Elsa and asks her to follow him to the king, to whom he will now reveal the mystery.

Change of scene: On the banks of the Scheldt, as in Act I. The troops arrive equipped for war. Telramund's corpse is brought in and the stranger defends his slaying of Telramund. One thing remains -- he must now disclose his identity to the king and Elsa. He tells the story of the Holy Grail

Holy Grail

According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers....
, and reveals himself as Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail and son of King Parsifal

Parsifal

Parsifal is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the medieval Epic poetry of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail....
. The time for his return has arrived and he has only tarried to prove Elsa innocent.

As he sadly bids farewell to his beloved bride, the swan reappears. Lohengrin prays that Elsa may recover her lost brother, and lo! the swan dives into the river and appears again in the form of young Gottfried, Elsa's brother, who had been turned into the swan by Ortrud's magic arts.

A dove descends from heaven, and, taking the place of the swan at the head of the boat, leads Lohengrin to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa is stricken with grief, however, and falls to the ground dead, longing for her beloved.

Parodies

In 1907, Victor Herbert

Victor Herbert

Victor August Herbert was an Ireland-born, German-raised United States composer, cellist and conducting who is best known for his many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway theatre....
produced a one-act parody

Parody

A parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation....
of Lohengrin called The Magic Knight
The Magic Knight

The Magic Knight is a one-act burlesque with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Edgar Smith. The piece travesty the Richard Wagner opera Lohengrin ....
(q.v.)

Within Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novel, Maskerade, a dying swan mentions an aria which it refuses to sing from the comic opera, Lowenshark, an English-language corruption of the title. The swan then sings a translated joke version of the central song.

Recordings

See Lohengrin discography
Lohengrin discography

This is a partial discography of Lohengrin , an opera by Richard Wagner. The first production was in Weimar, Germany on 28 August 1850 at the Staatskapelle Weimar, conducted by Franz Liszt....
.

Score

Full score downloadable at

External links

. A gallery of historic postcards with motifs from Richard Wagner's operas.
by Lotte Lehmann
Lotte Lehmann

Lotte Lehmann was a Germany soprano opera and Lieder singer who was especially associated with German repertory. She gave memorable performances in the operas of Richard Strauss; the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier was considered her greatest role....