Germany Wagner, Lohengrin: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of Mannheim Nationwide Theatre / Roberto Rizzi Brignoli (conductor). Mannheim Nationwide Theatre, 23.11.2025. (DM-D)
The manufacturing and design of this new Lohengrin in Mannheim blended into an intriguingly haunting, constant retelling of the well-known plot – lots of the quite a few nuances nonetheless linger on in my reminiscence. Roger Vontobel’s manufacturing emphasised the conflict between previous and new values. Previous values, darkish, sinister, in equal measure haunted and haunting, have been represented by Ortrud, and, by implication, Telramund, who had grow to be entranced by this dimension of Ortrud’s life and nature, and was unable to withstand. Consistent with Vontobel’s glorious consideration to element, Telramund was too weak, he didn’t have the energy to withstand; realised this with horror and gave in to the destiny that may develop in consequence, and which he knew wouldn’t be a cheerful one. As soon as he had given in, he took up his place on this darkish situation with gusto, a serious victory for Ortrud! Ortrud was wearing leather-based, with a punk-like coiffure, and Telramund’s outward look got here throughout as an more and more profitable try and mix in. Ortrud was surrounded steadily by 4 sprite-like characters, one thing like her shadows, who typically additionally gathered round different characters over whom Ortrud sought to exert her evil affect.
Ortrud, Telramund and their shadowy companions have been mirrored within the stage design. Photographs of murky growths, rising from human palms and fingers just like the tendrils of creeping crops, but rising to scary tree-like heights have been projected onto a scrim and ended up populating the precise set. The video labored significantly nicely with the set design. Every typical stage component – a room in a home, with white partitions, as an illustration – had a touch of these tendrils lurking within the background, behind the white floor. Lohengrin appeared virtually solely in white, his face painted white as nicely, though one arm confirmed clear indicators of darker colors. The swan was predominantly off-white, performed by the boy additional who in the end changed into Gottfried. The transition from fowl to human had the King and noblemen wiping a few of the swan-like facial make-up off his face. The refrain of Brabantians have been steadily positioned throughout the bodily mesh of tendrils, which restricted their motion significantly, even painfully so.
A lot of the manufacturing’s visible impression centered on Ortrud. Julia Faylenbogen rose to the problem of such a central place by way of her performing, into which she threw herself with glee and abandon. Her vocal achievement was simply as excellent. She was in a position to differentiate expression and quantity and organically mixed absolutely sung and Sprechgesang materials right into a most passionate rendering of the function. She was, above all, glorious in her outbursts, specifically on the finish of the opera, undoubtedly the emotionally shattering vocal spotlight of the night. Thomas Berau was an appropriate match as Telramund to Faylenbogen’s Ortrud, combining well-sustained, sonorous vocal arcs with Sprechgesang that didn’t come throughout as bellowing or shouting.
On the premise of critiques of his work to this point, and the audio and video materials obtainable on-line, I had had excessive hopes for Jonathan Stoughton as Lohengrin. I used to be disillusioned. The anticipated fantastic thing about voice got here by means of in between a variety of issues with intonation, worrying cracks and the occasional wobble. Maybe he was merely indisposed on the day, or his vocal issues signify a matter of profession planning: Stoughton has come to Lohengrin after notable success as Siegfried. The profession trajectories of Lance Ryan and Andreas Schager are maybe comparable on this respect, for whom the function of Lohengrin got here comparatively late and who weren’t in a position to reap the identical reward for his or her portrayal of the Knight of the Holy Grail as they did for Siegfried.
Astrid Kessler was a totally dedicated Elsa, a considerate younger lady deeply affected by all that occurred to and round her. She sang with appreciable ease and confidence, putting consideration to element by way of quantity, and delightful bloom. Patrick Zielke is creating into among the finest Wagner singers for the established bass roles. His King Henry was authoritative, sonorous, with a very wealthy tone within the very low register and really spectacular breath management to maintain the lengthy arcs of music composed for this function. Nikola Diskić was suitably strong because the Herald.
Strong can also be essentially the most applicable adjective to explain the music emanating from the pit. Solely a part of that impression could also be credited to the acoustics of the non permanent Mannheim Opera venue (the primary home is present process refurbishment). The final music director of Mannheim Nationwide Theatre, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, selected broad brush strokes with an emphasis on the brass, whereas utilizing the strings effectively to foreground the temper created by the wind devices. Rizzi Brignoli was constant on this strategy and the music served to assist and improve the visceral nature of the manufacturing general.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Featured Picture: Lohengrin Act III: Jonathan Stoughton (Lohengrin) © Christian Kleiner
Manufacturing:
Director – Roger Vontobel
Stage design – Fabian Wendling
Costume design – Martina Lebert
Lighting design – Florian Arnholdt
Video – Clemens Walter, Jonas Dahl
Refrain director – Alistair Lilley
Dramaturgy – Jan Dvořák
Solid included:
Heinrich der Vogler – Patrick Zielke
Lohengrin – Jonathan Stoughton
Elsa von Brabant – Astrid Kessler
Friedrich von Telramund – Thomas Berau
Ortrud – Julia Faylenbogen
The King’s Herald – Nikola Diskić
4 Noblemen – Raphael Wittmer, Dominic Lee, Zacharias Galaviz-Guerra, Jonas Boos
4 Squires – Yejy Nam, Vanessa Diny, Sophia de Otero, Rommie Rochell
