Russian roulette in the cinema

Jens-Daniel Herzog directs Lohengrin in Frankfurt ****½

AJ Glueckert as Lohengrin © Barbara Aumueller

Author : Jos Hermans

How do you explain Elsa's rock-solid belief in a make-believe reality from which a knight will come to redeem her from a death sentence? In Hamburg, Peter Konwitschny interpreted "Einsam in trüben Tagen" as the wet dream of a teenager. Director Jens-Daniel Herzog wonders: aren't we all growing adolescents like Elsa every time we surrender to our expectations of the larger-than-life figures of the silver screen? The cinema as the dream factory of the masses? It is the central idea behind Frankfurt's 2009 Lohengrin. In doing so, Herzog doesn't go as far as Peter Konwitschny who brilliantly redesigned the characters as adolescents in a classroom but Frankfurt's Lohengrin is equally entertaining through associations you rarely get to see.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming is that Lohengrin and Ortrud have been given little profile by the director. All the attention goes to Elsa and Telramund but then those roles stand as solid as a rock. Interesting but debatable is the reinterpretation of the pair of schemers. Ortrud and Telramund are presented here as rationalists who oppose the miracle believing Elsa and fight the masses who in no time have surrendered to an irrational belief in a Savior. Whenever Herzog seems to refer to the malice of National Socialism, it is done very subtly.

Mathis Neidhardt's set is an art-deco cinema, situated in the post-apocalyptic Weimar period. A dimly lit cinema screen initially separates the auditorium from the stage. As the prelude progresses, we slowly discern the outlines of the cinema and the movie audience staring at the same screen on stage. That they are watching a movie can be seen by the flickering reflections on their faces. Gottfried sitting in the front row with his big sister Elsa, toys with his trumpet and sword. Upon the appearance of Ortrud, dressed as an ice cream saleswoman, Gottfried disappears and the cinematic illusion turns into a nightmare. Elsa is accused of murder and the scene turns into a tribunal.

The audience has taken on the roles of the film, those of the people, the accuser, the ruler, the hero. For Elsa, this seems like the wrong movie and it never really becomes clear whether she is experiencing her bought dreams as reality. She is almost lynched on the spot. Heinrich der Vogler projects his military talk from the cinema balcony. Political opponents spray a sticky substance on his suit. The balcony will be used more often to bring individual voices to the fore. The arrival of the swan leaves everyone looking back at the screen with excitement. Lohengrin emerges in the midst of the audience, half clochard, half rocker, barefoot in leather pants.

Rarely has the duel - an embarrassing moment in most productions - been as exciting as the game of Russian roulette played here, which keeps pace in tension with the crescendo in chorus and orchestra. After four turns, Telramund quits. Taking his chances with only two turns left is too risky for him. The crowd is taken in by the unexpected hero; the Heerrufer  immediately acts as an unconditional fan.

AJ Glueckert (Lohengrin) & Wolfgang Koch (Telramund) © Barbara Aumueller

The second act is a procession of highlights after the Heerrufer, the janitor of the cinema in a gray dust coat and drunk like Der Frosch in Die Fledermaus, has walked through the picture during the prelude. There is the obvious fierce duet between Telramund and Ortrud in which we discover above all the Ortrud of Miina-Liisa Värelä, a power-mezzo who can compete with Anna Smirnova and Elena Pankratova in terms of dramatic expression. No crippeld intonation or problematic register transitions are to be detected in this exciting interpretation. Four dresses on hangers Elsa brings with her for the unfortunate Ortrud as she descends from the balcony. Their duet is another highlight, culminating in the most moving "Es gibt ein Glück" I have heard yet, which is masterfully developed by the orchestra in the interlude that follows. The off-stage fanfare was equally magnificent, of sonority, of atmosphere, of tempo, of spirited calm. Never have I seen Telramund so humbled by the collective. In the Heerrufer concentrate the forces that the masses have blindly taken over. He has Telramund waterboarded in a bucket of water and forced into a red pair of women’s heels. The "Gesegnet soll sie schreiten" chorus goes through a terrific crescendo without losing transparency. What does it mean that Elsa is suddenly surrounded by six lookalikes of Gotfried while on her way to her imagined Münster church in a wedding gown? It's a beautiful image and it stirs up doubt in her.

During "Treulich geführt," people throw their coats on the floor for the couple's wedding night. For Elsa, asking the question becomes untenable. The military fanfares, spatially spread between orchestra pit, wings and the highest balcony in the hall, have great effect. The crowd now puts on brown jackets. Lohengrin does his Grail narration -very beautifully- in a tête-à-tête with Elsa. Later he will bring Gottfried back to the cinema where the film screening continues as if nothing had happened. Perhaps Elsa dreamed all this together?

AJ Glueckert sings a fine Lohengrin but he is not a powerhouse heroic tenor. Competing with the orchestra is quite impossible. His timbre is pleasant and there are no problematic passages to note. He performs best in the third act when he is spared by the orchestra: with "Das süsse Lied verhallt", "Höchstes Vertrauen" and the Grail Narrative.

Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Elsa is one of those singers who bet on pure sensuality of sound. I found her Elsa even stronger than in Zürich, and I would be surprised if her debut in Frankfurt does not have a sequel. In the middle to high register she radiates with confidence and then lets her soprano flow wide. She knows exactly how to score.

Wolfgang Koch did not disappoint as Telramund though I would like to hear the part articulated with even more emphasis as Martin Gantner does. Telramund and Klingsor remain his best Wagner roles.

Anthony Robin Schneider as Heinrich, turned the king into a sympathetic appearance with appropriately beautiful phrasing without actually possessing the ideal timbre for the role.

Markus Eiche was a terrific Heerrufer, beautifully articulated with attention to each syllable and superb in his acting skills. You might expect something like that from a singing teacher.

Sebastian Weigle took the prelude in a very controlled way, appropriately paced and nicely built towards the crescendo with all the warm brass. He will never lose that control during the evening, in his hands the orchestra is in top form. I have already touched on a few highlights. All in all, this was a great Wagner evening.

Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Elsa © Barbara Aumueller