Lohengrin

Robert Heger
Chor der Staatsoper Berlin
Staatskapelle Berlin
Date/Location
1941
Staatsoper Berlin
Recording Type
  live   studio
  live compilation   live and studio
Cast
Heinrich der Vogler Ludwig Hofmann
Lohengrin Franz Völker
Elsa von Brabant Maria Müller
Friedrich von Telramund Jaro Prohaska
Ortrud Margarete Klose
Der Heerrufer des Königs Walter Großmann
Vier brabantische Edle ?
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Gallery
Reviews
ClassicsToday.com

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

Rating
(9/10)
User Rating
(4.2/5)
Media Type/Label
Preiser
Preiser, Grammofono 2000, Line, OOA
Technical Specifications
666 kbit/s VBR, 44.1 kHz, 970 MByte (flac)
Remarks
Some sources state that the recording took place 1942.