Ending an epic year, the Met is screening epics, and in Met style of old, they are not light or nifty. But there's some great myths and music in this collection. Among this week's offers is the Swan Knight. Opera, like visual art, loves myths.
Most of these operas have been screened earlier in this remarkable year, and some have commentary in earlier posts. Most epic-acious are those drawing on legends, and there's no legend more romantic than Lohengrin, the Swan Knight.
Wikipedia summarizes the legend, and various artists have romanticised the knight - and that swan, subject of romantic paintings and modern day memes.
Here's one for this year.
The Met's history of Lohengrins is provided here, and their 1986 effort screens on Wednesday, December 16 our time -
Wagner’s Lohengrin Starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John Macurdy, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1986.
Are you still battling with Wagner? Lohengrin is widely thought the most accessible of his operas - gorgeous music and a plot which if well acted moves fast. but mainly the music. There's that wedding march, of course (it's actually after the wedding) and the wonderful tenor aria to that dear swan. Here's Kaufmann.
There's also the fun of following various directors' efforts at portraying the swan, highly significant to the plot and the music - ridden by or pulling Lohengrin in his entry, then dramatically reappearing at the conclusion.
The Met's notes are unusually fun. "Wagner’s Romantic opera demands singing actors who can truly inhabit their parts, and that’s just what we have here. Is it possible for a Knight of the Holy Grail to look more enticing than Peter Hofmann? No wonder Elsa (Eva Marton) falls in love at first sight. Marton’s heroine is innocent, but she is also a passionate, real-life young woman—which is good, because Leonie Rysanek is positively demented as Ortrud, the sorceress who accuses Elsa and Lohengrin of using magic. With James Levine’s superb conducting, the orchestra and chorus are similarly magical. " Well, um.... New York Times wrote a scathing and unusually fun review, including of the 'swan problem'.
You're off swans? OK, here's the rest of the epics offering this week.
Tuesday, December 15 Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila Starring Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. From October 20, 2018.
Thursday, December 17 Berlioz’s Les Troyens Starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Eric Cutler, Dwayne Croft, and Kwangchoul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From January 5, 2013.
Friday, December 18 Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Levine. From April 7, 1984.
Saturday, December 19 Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov It's all about Boris (and also the chorus). This production stars as the Tsar René Pape and is conducted by Valery Gergiev. Here's the monologue from Act 1v. From October 23, 2010. Detailed review here from NYTimes.
Sunday, December 20 Verdi’s Nabucco Starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by James Levine. From January 7, 2017.
Monday, December 21 Wagner’s Götterdämmerung Starring Deborah Voigt, in her brief appearance as Brunhilde. This is the famous 'machine' production by Robert LePage. Surprise arrival as Siegfried was Jay Hunter Morris, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From February 11, 2012. Review here.
