Lohengrin in San Francisco 2012
Posted Jan 20th, 2012 at 3:56 pmI am most excited about the San Francisco Opera’s 2012-2013 season which includes Wagner’s most romantic opera, Lohengrin. A quick check of the SFO archives shows that this will be about the 11th production of Lohengrin given since 1931. In general, the opera has been offered about once a decade, the last production being in the 1996-97 season. This, I would guess, is about par for most major opera houses in the world.
The main difficulty of rolling out a Lohengrin is the role of Lohengrin itself. The famous tenors of history for whom there is a recorded history and who sang it with distinction and frequency are few. Lauritz Melchior, Sandor Konya (my favorite “heldentenor” sound in this role) Jess Thomas, Peter Hofmann, Placido Domingo and now Jonas Kaufmann, just to name a few.
Perhaps Lauritz Melchior sang it more than any other tenor in recent history, a regular at the Met year after year and an early Lohengrin at San Francisco Opera in 1937. Melchior’s is a heldentenor voice: powerful, steely, trumpeting, declamatory and the norm for the Wagnerian sound for many years. When Placido Domingo opened the 1984 Opera Season at the Met with Lohengrin, it was almost scandalous. Domingo’s voice was considered too light and too lyrical for the role and most critics were correct. I heard that performance live from the Met on Radio in 1984 and recorded it on tape. Domingo brought an Italianate lyricism to the role as though he were singing Verdi or Puccini. It was a revelation for me and many.
I have never connected with the “Wagnerian voice”. It can be thrilling in its power, but lacks color and nuance to my ears. Domingo opened my ears to Wagner. In the final notes of In fernem Land, Lohengrin’s aria at the end of a 4.5 hr opera, Domingo’s voice cracks and you sense his exhaustion. The unintended crack fits beautifully, however, as does the exhaustion. Lohengrin, in the previous scene, has just emerged from a 25 minute harangue by his new wife, Elsa, on their wedding night which devastates the Knight and requires his return to his noble past.
I am not suggesting that Domingo inserted the cracked note to emphasize his despair…it was a symptom of an overly taxed voice. Indeed, many felt the role would damage his voice. Domingo went on to sing Lohengrin for a number of years, but with caution and sparingly at selected, smaller theaters. He was wise; and he continued to perform well for 25 years as a top tenor.
Now we have Jonas Kaufmann as Lohengrin, who like Domingo sings many lyrical Italian and French roles and is starting to mix in Wagner. Kaufmann’s Lohengrin is like Domingo’s in its beautiful, unique and lyrical sound, making the character all the more human and identifiable. Kaufmann, like Domingo, seems to be selecting his venues very carefully for Lohengrin and it is doubtful that he will sing it at the cavernous Met anytime soon.
The San Francisco cast perhaps holds a bit of promise but is unproven. Brandon Jovanovich appears to be debuting his role of Lohengrin in San Francisco: but, unlike Domingo and Kaufmann, Jovanovich does not have firmly under his belt any of the great Italian or French roles and certainly none of those that require stamina. While he was outstanding as Michele in Puccini’s one act opera, Il Tabarro, in San Francisco a couple of seasons back, a quick inventory of his recorded live video performances of full operas makes one wonder how we will get through Lohengrin when he has trouble with Don Jose in Carmen. Jovanovich seems to have much promise, and I like his voice; but like so many singers today, he is either rushing himself or others are rushing him into taking on such a daunting role as Lohengrin. I hope I am proved wrong.
In any case, I am looking forward to Wagner at his most glorious, and if the singers excel and the production does not distract from the performance, this could be an exciting evening.
Lauritz Melchior as Lohengrin
Placido Domingo as Lohengrin
Jonas Kaufmann as Lohengrin