LOHENGRIN
Romantische Oper in 3 Aufzügen
Composer & librettist: Richard Wagner (1813–1883), after mediaeval German romance
First performance: Staatskapelle Weimar, 28 August 1850

SETTING: Antwerp, on the Scheldt, 10th century

PLOT: Friedrich von Telramund accuses Elsa von Brabant of her murdering her brother Gottfried, the Duke. To Elsa’s rescue comes a wonderful knight in a boat drawn by a swan. He will defend her and marry her on the condition that she never ask his name or where he came from. The knight defeats Telramund in combat and marries Elsa, but Telramund and his wife Ortrud, a pagan sorceress, plot to destroy the knight and rule Brabant. On their wedding knight, Elsa asks the knight the fateful question; at that moment, Telramund attacks the knight and is killed. Sadly, the knight assembles the people of Brabant, and tells them who he is: Lohengrin, son of Parsifal, knight of the Holy Grail. The swan returns, and Lohengrin transforms it into its rightful form: the Duke Gottfried, enchanted by Ortrud. Elsa dies of grief as Lohengrin sails away.

Morgenröte: ‘Heil König Heinrich!’
As day breaks over the River Scheldt, Brabantine men-at-arms gather to fight the Hungarians. (This is what they did before soccer.)

Heinrich der Vogler, deutscher König / German King (bass): Gottlob Frick
Der Heerrufer des Königs / The King’s Herald (baritone): Otto Wiener
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper

Conductor: Rudolf Kempe
Wiener Philharmoniker
Vienna, 1962–63

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