In an interview for Gramophone, Marek Janowski said that his idea for his Wagner’s opera omnia series with the RSB was his dissatisfaction with contemporary German opera directors, who don’t understand the master’s work. Thus, in concert version, his operas could shine at their brightest without any “interference” from the theatrical überall Wahn. Curiously, the conductor did not explain what kind of theatrical direction would be, in his opinion, ideal for Wagner operas. This introduction might seem irrelevant, but it made me remember that one of my eight or nine readers, Stefan, on explaining why he did not stay for the second act of Janowski’s Meistersinger because “the conductor obviously did not care about the drama of the piece”. I wonder what Wagner himself would think of this dichotomy between music and drama in the context of Musikdrama – is it legitimate to say that a performance of a Wagner opera gains in musical values for not being disturbed by being staged? One might said that it depends of the director. I would add then that the advantage of a concert performance depends of the conductor as well.
I have seen staged performances of Wagner operas that were musically uninteresting but theatrically compelling, staged performances who were dull in terms of theatre but musically illuminating – and Wagner operas performed in concert version that were actually “dramatic” and some that were neither dramatic nor musically interesting. In other words, although there is no golden rule here, in view of Maestro Janowski’s opinions, I was ready to be overwhelmed by something revelatory in terms of conducting this evening. I haven’t – Daniel Barenboim “accompanying” either Harry Kupfer’s or Stefan Herheim’s stagings actually offered me something far more overwhelming. I do not mean that this evening’s was a bad performance – it was certainly not – but it hadn’t been special either. If one has in mind that it has been organized with the purpose of being recorded, it was supposed to be memorable – otherwise why release a CD of it, isn’t it? As it was, this was an outstandingly clear reading of the score with rhythmically accurate ensembles. If there is one opera the prelude of which is supposed to set the mood for what lies ahead, this is Lohengrin – not this evening, I am afraid: violins lacked floating quality in their pianissimo playing and the climax was so deliberately built that it actually hang fire. To tell the truth, strings lacked volume throughout, violins sounding particularly thin. Since brass were in healthy shape, this could be often problematic. Act II had a better start, the dark side of the opera apparently has more appeal to the conductor – the Ortrud/Telramund scene displayed superior structural coherence and the orchestra commented with some passion, when not reined in to spare singers in difficulty. The Rundfunkchor Berlin proved to be the trump card of today’s Lohengrin – no wonder that the ensembles were invariably the most exciting moments this evening. Lohengrin’s arrival in act I was particularly praiseworthy, one of the best I have heard either live or in recordings. By the third act, things seemed to gain somewhat in interest – the prelude to act III is one of Janowski’s specialties, but I have heard him conduct it more excitingly with this same orchestra in other occasion (here again strings lacked volume). In all honesty, one cannot blame the conductor alone for the lack of excitement. It is very generous of these singers to perform pro bono and I respect all of them for that, but this was no dream team for this opera – and one could see that Janowski had to make them many concessions that ended on impairing some key dramatic moments. A good example was Ortrud’s last intervention – the orchestra, for once, was ready to give it all, but the conductor had to scale things down and he deserves high praise for being able to keep some excitement there through articulation and accent alone.
Pregnancy seems to become Annette Dasch – although the role of Elsa requires a larger voice than hers, she sang it this evening really better than when I saw her in Bayreuth. Today I found her middle and low register particularly fruity and appealing and her attempts to produce pianissimo more effective. Her interpretation has deepened too and, even if her Elsa has more than a splash of “Gossip Girl”, it is also theatrically alert and attentive to the text. Susanne Resmark too knows everything she should know about Ortrud, but the role is impossibly high for her voice, making her sound hooty, breathy and sometimes off-pitch. I have seen Klaus Florian Vogt as Lohengrin in various occasions and so far this has been his best performance in this role and I am glad that it has been recorded. His strangely ethereal yet forceful tenor fits the “role description” and he sang it particularly mellifluously this evening, while almost avoiding the abrupt ending of phrases that sometimes disfigure his singing. Gerd Grochowski masters the crispy declamation necessary to sing Telramund but, as his Ortrud, finds the role high for his voice, sounding often gray toned and limited in volume in the higher reaches. Together with this evening’s tenor and the chorus, the shining features of this performance are the outstanding Günther Groissböck, an exemplary Wagnerian voice, as King Henry and Markus Brück’s powerful Herald.
I HEAR VOICES 
“…violins lacked floating quality in their pianissimo playing”
In Lohengrin Act I Prelude?!?!? Ouch. As you say, RML, a most unpropitious place for this.
The singers are doing this pro bono? That’s a petty “starry” cast then. (And really even for a fee. Dasch gets around to big places as does, Resmark to an extent. Vogt is certainly in demand, in this role especially. Groissbock and Grochowski are around all the time.)
Of all the scheduled Janowski Wagner Cycle concerts, this is the one I had the most foreboding about. Lohengrin, although it doesn’t have any particular established academic reputation for being so, is for me the most difficult of all Wagner operas to perform. It is also one of my favorite works and I’ve seen it countless times in several places all through my life – it comes first and foremost in choice (providing the cast is decent or better).
I cringed when I saw Susanne Resmark’s name in the cast list as Ortrud – I had just seen her as Venus in the København Tannhäuser DVD, wherein her soft singing was ethereal but her forte on the high notes was horrible, particularly in the final dénouement of the last act. With pro bono such as Resmark I’m afraid Janowski got what he paid for.
Grateful for the positive aspect of your review – I am now looking forward to hearing the audio of this performance thanks to the good news you bring about Vogt’s super-duper Lohengrin as well as the fact you have indicated that finally, after a couple of broadcast attempts, Dasch was able to sing Elsa quite well.
Hi!
Can I ask first off where you were sitting in the concert hall? I was sitting in front of the violins and got almost entirely the opposite impression! We are agreed on Vogt, but I thought both Ortrud and Telramund were fantastic (she had no pitch problems for me!), Elsa was way way off (she warmed up a bit in the last act, but until then I was presuming she was sick) – it seemed to me that that glassy eyed-stare that carried her through the entire Bayreuth production was her sole contribution to acting in an otherwise quite enjoyable concert-performance. I also thought Koenig Heinrich was entirely out-classed by everyone on stage, a very clear voice with no personality or grandeur. Sprecher was very good also.
The Chorus were incredibly brilliant, Jankowski’s tempi were interesting and the horns were well-balanced (though I guess I was sitting in the most non-horn-friendly seat in the house).
Hi, Deb!
I was on B – on the opposite side of the violins. Maybe that’s why you heard them so richly. Curiously, this was the best seat I have ever head in the series so far 🙂 As for the rest, de gustibus. I’m glad we agree about Vogt and the chorus!