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Elke Heidenreich:
Many new stories are appearing again at the book fair. I have a very old story for you today, from the first half of the 10th century: "Lohengrin". "Beck" has published a wonderful book about the Lohengrin production by Yuval Sharon, 2018 in Bayreuth. Christian Thielemann conducted, and the Saxon artists Neo Rauch and his wife Rosa Loy made the set and costumes. I'll show you that once: In deep blue, also the costumes, very romantic, everything dark blue. Nietzsche said: "There is a lot of blue music in the Lohengrin. Wagner knows the opiate and narcotic effects.
"Lohengrin" was premiered in Weimar in August 1850. Franz Liszt conducted at the time. Wagner himself was not there because he had taken part in the uprisings in Dresden in 1849 as a revolutionary. He distributed leaflets and smuggled hand grenades and he was wanted on a wanted list. He was only able to see his "Lohengrin" himself years later. So in Bayreuth they kept to this Nietzsche quote and had the two artists, Loy and Rauch, create a wonderful, very romantic set. And for me Christian Thielemann is the world's best Wagner conductor. Certainly not just for me. Strangely enough, he conducted this opera there in Bayreuth, where he has conducted the Ring many times. And this book now contains the whole Lohengrin story, i.e. the libretto.
The costumes and the pictures of Loy and Rauch, wait a minute, I'll show you Elsa and the evil Ortrud. That's what they look like, actually like nice little girls. And that was performed there, with great success. In the book is a very beautiful, passionate essay on "Lohengrin" by Christian Thielemann. He says: "I still get a shiver of joy when I conduct this, because this opera is eroticism turned into sound". And you can feel that in this whole story, which is about Elsa von Brabant being accused of murdering her little brother Gottfried, the heir to the throne. And then the knight Lohengrin comes, frees her from this predicament and testifies that she is innocent. She mustn't ask what his name is. Only we know that it is the knight Lohengrin. And as we know, Ortrud teases her and says: "How can you marry someone when you don't even know where he's from and what his name is?". And finally she asks him, and then he says: "Oh Elsa, now all our happiness is gone." He is the knight of the grail, son of Parzival. He must now withdraw again. Lo and behold, the swan turns into Gottfriedchen. Gottfried is not dead, he was bewitched into a swan by the evil Ortrud and everything is fine again. But the knight is gone. Happiness is gone, and one wonders how he gets away, because the swan brought him away. He gets away by having his boat pulled by a pigeon.
We're just in a fairy tale. But in a wonderful. And you should save this beautiful book as a Christmas present. Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin", complete libretto, pictures by Rosa Loy and Neo Rauch and a passionate introduction by Christian Thielemann. Thats something.
