Lohengrin

"Lohengrin" was premiered in Weimar in 1850 under the direction of Franz Liszt. The performance was a triumph for the composer, who, however, was unable to attend: he had been exiled for taking part in the 1848 uprisings in Dresden. Director Götz Friedrich took this historical background into account by having the radiant knight appear at the end dressed in black - a symbol for the dashed hopes of the German revolutionaries. The political message, however, generally pales before the aesthetic power of the images which depict the Middle Ages in a totally abstract manner. As Lohengrin, Peter Hofmann gives a performance that is dazzling in every gesture and every tone. Karan Armstrong replies with a very lyrical timbre and applies expressionistic means to convey sorrow, wonder and the bitterness of leave- taking. This production by Götz Friedrich was recorded at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1982.