Staatsoper Berlin Season 2025/26
“LOHENGRIN”
Romantic Opera in 3 Acts
Music and Text by Richard Wagner
Heinrich der Vogler RENÉ PAPE
Lohengrin ERIC CUTLER
Elsa von Brabant  ELZA VAN DEN HEEVER
Friedrich von Telramund WOLFGANG KOCH
Ortud, his wife ANJA KAMPE
Der Heerrufer des Königs ARTU KATAJA
Staatsoper Chorus and Staatskapelle Berlin
Conductor Simone Young
Chorus Dani Juris
Stage Director Calixto Bieito
Set Rebecca Ringst
Costume Ingo Krügle
Lighting Michael Bauer
Video Sarah Derendinger
Berlin, 18 January, 2026
A modern look at an old legend is undoubtedly welcome when it can tell us something about ourselves or the times we live in, but the retelling must recount a coherent story which is inherent in the legend. Unraveling the mysteries of earthly and heavenly power, love, religious mysticism, sorcery and loss in Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin is especially difficult because of the gargantuan leap of faith required by the myth of the Holy Grail, mystic powers and transmogrifying swans. Calixto Bieito, assisted by Barbora Horakova, seeks to reinterpret Wagner’s opera in modern terms and to comment on the degeneracy of Northern European society but ends up with an inchoate tale which despite flashes of insight lacks internal logic and sometimes even elemental stagecraft. Assisted as well by the sets of Rebecca Ringst, the costumes of Ingo Krügler, and the lighting of Michael Bauer, Bieito casts a not quite modern florescent light on a set of cliché risers and chairs. This has the desired effect of tearing the opera out of the mythological past of kings, crusaders and mysticism but the men playing with small toy cars in the opening scene fail to make any theatrical point about the current state of western civilization. Of course it might be a valid dramatic choice to omit any swan until Sarah Derendinger’s projections, which precede each act, sought to clarify Bieito’s concept. First she shows a boy drowning and finally a swan being born out of a black woman. Nonetheless simply ignoring the libretto without providing dramatic justification is not sufficient. Wagner’s music is powerful and suggestive. Images provide context but strong onstage signals are necessary to contradict the music. The music, however, is anything but weak and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden presented it in all it’s glory. The orchestra, led by the skilled hands and ears of Simone Young, played ethereal piani, excellently paced crescendi and full throated and disciplined climaxes, only getting out of hand a very few times in finales, as occasionally happens in revivals. The brass executed their frequent kingly duties with clarion restraint, and the woodwinds delineated Elsa’s vulnerability with tender beauty. All vocalists were up to the task, but the Elsa of Elza van den Heever and the King Heinrich of Staatsoper stalwart René Pape stood out with full, rich tones both loud and soft, soaring high notes and Wagnerian phrasing. The Ortrud of Anja Kaampe also stood out for her strong embodiment of this treacherous character. Her top notes were her strong suit, and her lower tones were entirely sufficient with Young at the helm of this magnificent orchestra. Wolfgang Koch’s Act I Telramund was a study in nastiness, snarling and bending the text effectively. Eric Cutler looked the part of the title role and had a strong upper register but he lacked presence in the middle and low, and resorted to crooning much of his famous aria. In the ultimate finale of the opera, however, he showed some strain. Thanks to Bieto’s direction Cutler had no swan to enter or exit on, and his characterization lacked definition, but making a strong character out of a modern fantasist with no mystical powers is a daunting task. The Heerrufer Artu Katanja was also cast from the the Staatsoper ensemble and was quite adequate if not astonishing. The Staatsoper Chorus reinforced by the Staatskapelle Berlin was indeed astonishing and the men in particular sang with strength, ensemble and clarity. Photo Monika Rittershaus