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[Met Performance] CID:3160



Lohengrin
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, December 15, 1884









Review 1:

Review in The Mail and Express

Lohengrin. Knight of the Holy Grail.

In our notice of the performances of "Lohengrin" at the Metropolitan last week it was said that from time to time, as the work was repeated, each character would be taken up and considered with regard to its dramatic and musical treatment by the composer and its interpretation at the new house. It is proposed to do this because Lohengrin represents better than any of its predecessors the transition from the opera to the music-drama. It is neither one nor the other. It has leading motives, but they are not developed as fully as in Wagner's latter production; it has well-rounded, clearly-defined melodies, but they are not so easily detached as those of "Tannhäuser," let alone of the "Flying Dutchman" and "Rienzi." It forms a turning point in the history of music. From it we pass to a new musical form devised by a master mind and molded with a master hand. The music assigned to the characters in "Lohengrin" are in a measure preliminary experiments in the shaping and developing of the music-drama, and their consideration will serve to familiarize the reader beforehand with methods which he will find applied to their fullest extent in "Die Walküre," to be produced here later. For this reason all the elements in last night's performance of "Lohengrin" are disregarded excepting the personation of the title role by Herr Schott.

The character of Lohengrin has been much misunderstood. The Knight of the Holy Grail has been too frequently interpreted as a mere sentimentalist attracted to Brabant, not so much by the desire to succor a human being in distress, which is supposed to actuate the Knights of his order, as by love for Elsa, conceived through some subtle spiritual affinity, before they had ever met. This is the Italian idea of this character, and from this point of view it was admirably carried out by Campanini when in his prime. He, however, interpreted but one side of the character. There is every indication that Lohengrin comes to Brabant for the sole purpose of rescuing Elsa from the sorcerous machinations of Ortrud and Telramund, and that up to the time of his arrival he has not been swayed by human affections and passions. Much in the music preceding his appearance confirms this view. The whole introduction which sounds the keynote of his character breathes forth spiritual tenderness, grace and purity. Some of its measures are heard just before Elsa proclaims that the Knight "of pure and virtuous" mien, who appeared to her in her visions, shall be her champion. And throughout her dreamy ecstasy she sings of him as of some heavenly savior whose lofty spirituality is without the slightest alloy of coarse human clay, This impression is confirmed when the characteristic music of the Vorspiel is again heard before Lohengrin bids farewell to the swan, while he stands bathed in the soft glow of a supernatural halo. And now, as he approaches Elsa, a change gradually comes over him. He forgets the Grail and the spiritual happiness he has enjoyed in the companionship of its Knights. He feels for the first time the thrill of human passion. It grows in strength and fervor with every measure until, throwing aside all restraint and yielding wholly to its power, he raises Elsa to his heart with the words: "Elsa I worship thee." From this point he is to Elsa a chivalrous, passionate lover. Only at intervals in addressing the King and the Knights or in rebuking Ortrud and Telramund does he assume the authority of one who is above the dignitaries of this earth. With Elsa, if we except the ominous warning which he repeats to her so fearfully that it alone would show how strong his earthly ties have become, he is full of tender grace, yielding in the great love scene to the most exalted passion. "Oh, let my arms in love enfold thee! Come rest thee here, my love, my life," is his ardent plea, as he presses her to his heart, and then, just when his earthly bliss has reached its height, it is rudely shattered. From here on his character gradually regains its original spirituality, when, in the final scene, he changes Elsa's brother from the swan to his natural shape, and thus makes his triumph over Ortrud and Frederick complete, he assumes once more the radiant and glorious mien with which he first approached Elsa in her dreams. But this re-transition from humanity to spirituality is beautifully graduated. There is infinite sadness in the reminiscent measures of the love duet played softly, as if an echo, when Lohengrin exclaims: "Woe, all our joy now is fled for aye!" And throughout the third act his words to the bride to whom he must bid farewell indicate a mournful tenderness which shows that he is still under the sway of human passion and grief. Wagner has most beautifully adapted the music of Lohengrin to the duality of his character. The [first] measures in the Vorspiel which are simply repeated in enriched harmonies throughout that wonderful prologue form the leading motive of his duties and aspirations as a Knight of the Holy Grail. Whenever this phase of his character is prominent, this motive appears in the score, especially in the disclosure of his lineage and name in the third act and in the peoraration when the curtain falls, while the orchestra in all its majestic force proclaims in the triumphant chords the victory of matchless purity over the powers of evil. The human phase of the character is on the other hand portrayed in strains of tender grace and ecstatic passion, of which the love duet forms a familiar example. In these changes from the supernatural to the human Wagner shows his masterly sense of dramatic fitness. If Lohengrin had been allowed to stalk through the opera with spiritual frigidity he would never have called our sympathy into play. As it is, we follow him with a genuine interest, for he is aglow with the fire and warmth of human emotion.

Herr Schott achieves a genuine triumph in preserving the duality of this character. In appearance and bearing he is at the proper moments the Heaven-sent messenger of Elsa's salvation and at such times his voice rings out with the tone of a clarion. On the other hand his tones in the love duet and similar phrases are full of human tenderness and passion, and the pathos of his acting and singing after Elsa has betrayed his trust, are deeply affecting. His Lohengrin is a performance the greatness of which has readily been recognized, and the demonstrations which it calls forth are but the natural results of his artistic and eloquent personations

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Met careers

• Anton Schott [Lohengrin]
• Auguste Seidl-Kraus [Elsa]
• Marianne Brandt [Ortrud]
• Alkuir Blum [Telramund]
• Josef Staudigl [King Heinrich]
• Otto Kemlitz [Herald]
• Leopold Damrosch [Conductor]