Lohengrin - Richard Wagner

Sound-become utopia 'A meadow along the banks of the Scheldt near Antwerp': this is how Richard Wagner describes the location of his romantic opera Lohengrin. Across the Scheldt comes the Grail knight Lohengrin, son of Parsifal, sailing on a swan as a magical saviour of the beleaguered Elsa. In an internally divided country without government, she is accused of murdering her brother Gottfried to help a secret love to power. Lohengrin is determined to prove her innocence. Yet she may never ask about his name and identity. Just as in Parsifal, Wagner employs an ancient myth to give shape to his vision of humanity and society. Central to this is the possibility of redemption offered from a 'world of hatred and envy' (Wagner) that betrays mankind time and again. What remains is a utopian vision that the composer translates into the ethereal Grail music that surrounds Lohengrin. The concert performance of Lohengrin at OBV invites you to become completely immersed in the sonic magic of Wagner's incomparable score.