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. The Bayreuth Festival production has many of the same haunted, obsessive qualities that mark such Werner Herzog films as "Aguirre, The Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo". The internationally acclaimed filmmaker's heroes (often played by the late Klaus Kinski) are generally lonely, enigmatic men; in Lohengrin, Herzog found a truly congenial subject. With its probing images and lavish settings by Henning von Gierke, the production is not only intelligent, fascinating and coherent, but also simply gorgeous. The press unanimously hailed Paul Frey's "limpid and tender voice" and Cheryl Studer's "marvelous musicality and transparent timbre".