Wagner opera
Paris shows “Lohengrin” vision by Kirill Serebrennikov
Kirill Serebrennikov stages Wagner’s “Lohengrin” in Paris (archive photo). photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Kirill Serebrennikov stages his second Wagner opera. The starting point for his “Lohengrin” was an idea that turned out to be prophetic, says the Russian star director.
After “Parsifal” in 2021 at the Vienna State Opera, Kirill Serebrennikov is now presenting his second Wagner film with “Lohengrin” in Paris.Opera. The new production by the Russian director, which premieres this Saturday (September 23rd) at the Opera Bastille, is dominated by the war in Ukraine.
A military hospital, wounded men, soldiers and body bags; The protagonist Elsa is also lying in the hospital bed: This is Serebrennikov’s vision of Richard Wagner’s last romantic opera. Wagner began the work, which is about the fateful story of Elsa of Brabant and the “Swan Knight” Lohengrin, in 1845.
The starting point for the new production was the idea of a never-ending war, Serebrennikov explained in an interview published by the opera. Unfortunately, the idea proved prophetic with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Intendant Neef brought Serebrennikov to Paris
For the new production, the German director of the Paris Opera, Alexander Neef, visited the 54-year-old director, who has been living in Berlin since 2022 after a long period of house arrest, in Moscow. Neef’s suggestion to create a new version of “Lohengrin” freed him from his depressive thoughts, Serebrennikov said in the interview. He staged his “Parsifal” version while under house arrest in Moscow.
The new Paris production, which runs until October 27th, is under the musical direction of British conductor Alexander Soddy. On stage, among others, will be the German baritone Wolfgang Koch and the Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, who, after Dresden, Bayreuth, Vienna and New York, will once again embody the title role of Lohengrin.