Wagner’s soaring masterpiece makes its triumphant return to the Met stage after 17 years. In a sequel to his revelatory production of Parsifal, director François Girard unveils an atmospheric staging that once again weds his striking visual style and keen dramatic insight to Wagner’s breathtaking music, with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct a supreme cast led by tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the mysterious swan knight. Sopranos Tamara Wilson and Elena Stikhina, as the virtuous duchess Elsa, falsely accused of murder, go head-to-head with soprano Christine Goerke as the cunning sorceress Ortrud, who seeks to lay her low. Bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin is Ortrud’s power-hungry husband, Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck is King Heinrich.
Composed by Richard Wagner
“Tremendous … ★★★★★ … Full of thrilling moments … Outstanding singing and indelible images … Tenor Piotr Beczała was Lohengrin … His voice has a natural warmth … and plenty of projection and stamina … Soprano Tamara Wilson captured Elsa’s naive sincerity … Christine Goerke is perhaps the great contemporary Wagnerian soprano, and she was exciting to hear throughout … Oscar-winner Tim Yip’s set designs are stunning.” —
FINANCIAL TIMES
LOHENGRIN
“Beczała’s delivery was dramatic, eloquent and, most of all, humane … Wilson’s ample soprano alternated effectively between innocent spaciness, steely resolve, and moments of radiance … The biggest, plushest voice onstage belonged to Goerke, who turned Ortrud’s poisonous manipulations into the opera’s main event … Powerful turns.” —
THE WALL STREET JOURNALLOHENGRIN
“Beczała sings with uncanny serenity and command in the title role … A shining musical performance … Beczała performs with total security and elegance … The Met’s chorus, in one of the most difficult works in its repertory, was both stentorian and evocative … Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this grand score with a sure sense for the elasticity of pace that makes Wagner’s scenes breathe … Superb singers.” —
THE NEW YORK TIMES (Critic’s Pick)
