The first thing you notice about this live 1942 performance is the unusually vivid sound, which likely derives from an early, experimental tape source. While the singers, all regulars of the Berlin Staastoper in the late 1930s/early ’40s, are a bit past their prime, they compensate through sheer dramatic fervor. The principals play freely with note values, yet relish the text as if they were indeed the characters they portray: from Ludwig Hoffmann’s imposing Heinrich and Maria Müller’s mature Elsa, to Margarite Klose’s menacing Ortrud and, best of all, Franz Völker’s fresh, gorgeously phrased way with the title role. The orchestra playing ranges from surprisingly secure to unfocused and blatty, and the same goes for the choral forces. As with other “historic” Lohengrins of this vintage, Robert Heger observes the once traditional 167-bar cut in Act 3. No texts, translations, or notes.

Jed Distler