Wagner - Lohengrin
Botha; Pieczonka;
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne / Bychkov
Profil PH09004 (3CD)

Release date June 2009

Admitting to favourite operas can be a hostage to fortune, especially with Wagner, but at gunpoint I would acknowledge a special fondness for Lohengrin, conventional though it seems compared with the much greater things that were to follow (‘there is a whole world between Lohengrin and my present plans,’ he wrote in 1851 in the early stages of writing the text for Siegfried). This studio recording, made after several years of concert performances with essentially the same cast (described as ‘the building of the Lohengrin cathedral’ in a note by Bychkov), brings out the sheer beauty of the work, with refined playing from all sections of the WDR Symphony Orchestra: the shimmering strings at the start, the passage for windband during Elsa’s progress to the Minster in Act II.iv, the exhilarating prelude to Act III, and elsewhere. Johan Botha in the title role sings with ardent lyricism, and Adrianne Pieczonka is a gentle but vocally exquisite Elsa. Try the concluding scene of Act II when Elsa for the moment lets her love overcome her doubts, evoking a radiant response from Lohengrin and the orchestra. We hear the full ‘Grail’ narration in Act III, which usually ends at Lohengrin’s declaration of his identity (as Wagner instructed Liszt at the first performance); this is an unusual bonus although the continuation is a little disconcerting on first hearing. The baddies too are magnificent. I remember Petra Lang’s insidiously feline Ortrud in the Runnicles-conducted concert performance at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall a few years back, when I sat in the front row and found myself almost looking into her eyes; I am pleased now to have her performance of the role on disc, the voice distinctive enough without her physical presence. Her fellow villain, Telramund, is sung by Falk Struckmann, whose voice reminds me of the admirable Theo Adam, with a more menacing edge. The all-important ensembles and public scenes have great power, and the choral forces are excellent. I will be listening to this new Lohengrin often, alongside Kempe and other old favourites and with the added benefit of resplendent digital sound.

Reviewed by Robert Allen