Lohengrin
Richard Wagner devised a memorable entrance for his eponymous hero knight Lohengrin. He is meant to appear on a boat drawn by a beautiful white swan just in time to save a damsel in distress. But in today’s world, where we prefer our Fairy Tales animated and with a self-referential wink, appearances of the swan are rare. This is not to say that LOHENGRIN is forgotten, only that an actual swan is generally thought too literal to be taken seriously by a modern audience.
Certainly there were no swans in the new production at LA Opera directed by Lydia Steier. The opera was updated to World War I and situated in the ruins of a bombed out church which had been commandeered as a military hospital. (kudos to Dick Hofacker's evocative set and clever use of turntable.) The nave is teeming with bloody patients, exhausted nurses and shell-shocked townspeople. When King Heinrich and his army arrive, they made a stark contrast with their clean uniforms and precise military formations.
Wagner’s transcendent prelude became the background for an unsuccessful leg amputation (glimpsed as shadows through a tent). Later the dead soldier was transfigured into a less-than-heroic looking Lohengrin sporting a silver leg prosthesis and a filthy t-shirt. His entrance lost, not only the swan, but any impact it might have had, obscured as it was by the onstage crowd. Steier’s cogent program notes clarified her concept, but the onstage manifestation of her ideas were murky and incoherent, leaving many in the audience frustrated and confused.
Musically, the performance was far more lucid. James Conlon, once again, led the orchestra in an intelligent, expressive and eloquently phrased reading of the score.
Ben Heppner, making his LA Opera debut in the title role, displayed a wild and uncontrolled tone throughout the First Act. By the Second Act he had settled into a manageable vocal performance which, while still showing strain, also revealed many of the reasons he has been singing leading Wagnerian roles for over a decade. Unfortunately, the relatively static blocking provided him little help in creating a multilayered performance.
The leading ladies fared much better. Soile Isokoski (another debut) was an appealing Elsa with an authoritative and cleanly produced soprano. She made her dilemma of whether or not to ask her savior's name personal and affecting. Dolora Zajick has long been known for her forceful Verdi portrayals. Ortrud was her first Wagner role and she triumphed in a performance of passion, power and admirable dramatic intensity.
James Johnson was a dynamic, if curiously tortured Telramund and Kristinn Sigmundsson sang an elegant King Heinrich.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion November 20 – December 12, 2010
213 972-8001 or www.laopera.com