Lohengrin by Wagner, Ó (2023/2023), Faoi stiúir Ingo Kerkhof,, Seoltóir Gabriel Feltz, Opernhaus Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

The accusation weighs heavily: Telramund and Ortrud accuse Elsa, the daughter of the Duke of Brabant, of murdering her brother Gottfried. The two want to deprive Elsa of her claim to power. The king leaves the judgment to God's decision, two knights are to be his tools in a duel. Elsa calls for help from the man who had previously appeared to her in a dream. As if by a miracle, the radiant hero Lohengrin hears her and wins Elsa's rights. Ortrud and Telramund plot revenge - so it suits them that the knight keeps a big secret about his name and origin. He has agreed to marry Elsa if she will never ask him about it. She agrees, but Ortrud insidiously urges Elsa to ask the forbidden question and insists until she gives in. The consequence is fatal: Lohengrin proclaims that he is the son of the Grail King Parzival. But after this revelation he has to leave Elsa. Lohengrin , which Wagner himself described as a “romantic opera”, begins tenderly and with an unbelievable beauty that seems out of this world . The piece marked a new quality in his work, so the orchestra with its sometimes heartfelt, sometimes pathetic sound is now the bearer of the action on stage. Written during his revolutionary phase, Wagner combines historical events with his philosophical ideas and thus creates a political parable. The production by Ingo Kerkhof interprets Wagner's romantic opera as an intimate chamber piece and thus discovers exciting new perspectives on the protagonists*, while the choir takes on an extraordinary special position in terms of sound.