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Template:Wagner operasLohengrin is a romantic opera (or music drama) in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner. The first production was in Weimar, Germany on 28 August 1850 under the direction of Franz Liszt, a close friend and early supporter of Wagner. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the Knight of the Swan tradition.

Lohengrin was an immediate popular success. Several excerpts have become famous, including the preludes to the first and third acts, the opening music to Act II, Scene 4, which has been converted into the concert band piece "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral", Lohengrin's aria In fernem Land (Act III, Scene 3), and the Bridal Chorus "Treulich geführt" from Act III, Scene 1 -- commonly known as "Here Comes the Bride."

The opera has proved inspirational towards other works of art. Among those deeply moved by the fairy-tale opera was the young King Ludwig II of Bavaria. |Der Maerchenkoenig later built his ideal fairy-tale castle and dubbed it "New Swan Stone," or "Neuschwanstein," after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to build a theatre for, compose and stage his epic cycle, the Ring of the Nibelung. Nicaraguan poet Ruben Darío paid homage to Lohengrin in his poem "El cisne" ("The Swan").

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, August 28, 1850 (Conductor: Franz Liszt)
Lohengrin	tenor	Carl Beck
Elsa of Brabant	soprano	Rosa Agathe von Milde
Ortrud, Telramund's wife	mezzo-soprano	Fastlinger
Friedrich of Telramund, a Count of Brabant	baritone	Feodor von Milde
Heinrich der Vogler (Henry the Fowler)	bass	Höfer
The King's Herald	bass	August Pätsch
Four Noblemen of Brabant	tenors, basses
Four Pages	sopranos, altos
Duke Gottfried, Elsa's brother	silent	Hellstedt
Saxon, Thuringian, and Brabantian counts and nobles, ladies of honor, pages, vassals, serfs

Plot

Place: Antwerp, on the Scheldt.

Time: Tenth Century.

Act I

King Henry the Fowler has arrived in Brabant where he has assembled the German tribes in order to expel the Hungarians from his dominions. Count Telramund acts as regent for Duke Gottfried of Brabant, a minor and brother to Elsa. Gottfried has mysteriously disappeared and Telramund, incited by his wife, Ortrud, accuses Elsa of murdering her brother and demands that she give him the dukedom.

Elsa appears surrounded by her attendants and, knowing herself innocent, declares that she is willing to submit to the judgment of God through the ordeal of combat. Elsa chooses a knight she has beheld in her dreams as her champion(Narrative: "Alone in dark days.") and sinks to her knees and prays that God send her relief. Telramund, at the behest of the king, agrees to fight.

At first, the Herald calls upon the unknown knight in vain. When he calls the second time, however, a miracle takes place. A boat drawn by a swan appears on the river and in it stands a knight in shining armour. He lands and dismisses the swan before respectfully greeting the king and asks Elsa if she will have him as her champion. Elsa kneels in front of him and places her honour in his keeping. He asks but one thing in return for his service: she is never to ask him who he is or where he has come from. Elsa agrees to this and, after praying, the combat commences.

Telramund is defeated, but the victor grants him his life. Taking Elsa by the hand, the Knight declares her as innocent and asks for her hand in marriage.

Act II

Night in the courtyard outside the cathedral. Telramund and Ortrud, both banished, appear in tattered garments. Ortrud, a heathen and daughter of Radbod, the Duke of Frisia, tries to revive Telramund's courage through her magical powers. She plots to induce Elsa to violate the mysterious Knight's only condition.

When Elsa appears on the balcony in the light of the morning, she sees Ortrud and takes pity upon her. Telramund, unobserved, retires into the shadow of a house. The populace assembles and the Herald announces that the king has offered to make the unnamed Knight the Duke of Brabant. He refuses the title, however, and requests to be known only as "Guardian of Brabant."

As the king, the Knight, Elsa and her attendants are about to enter the church, Ortrud, clad in magnificent attire, appears and accuses Lohengrin of being a magician. Telramund also appears and claims to have been vanquished by fraud, as he does not know the name of his opponent, and neither does the wife-to-be herself. Lohengrin refuses to reveal his identity and claims that only one has the right to know his origin -- Elsa and Elsa alone. Elsa, though visibly shaken and uncertain, assures the Knight of her confidence and they enter the church together.

Act III

The bridal chamber. Elsa and Lohengrin are ushered in with the well-known bridal chorus and the couple expresses their love for each other. Ortrud's words, however, are impressed upon Elsa, and, despite the Knight's warning, she asks the fatal question. Telramund rushes into the room in order to attack the knight, but is instead slain himself by the Knight. The Knight sorrowfully turns to Elsa and asks her to follow him to the king, to whom he will now reveal the mystery.

Change of scene: On the banks of the Scheldt, as in Act I. The troops arrive equipped for war. Telramund's corpse is brought in and Lohengrin defends his slaying of Telramund. One thing remains -- he must now disclose his identity to the king and Elsa. He tells the story of the Holy Grail, and reveals himself as Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail and son of King Parsifal. The time for his return has arrived and he has only tarried to prove Elsa innocent.

As he sadly bids farewell to his beloved bride, the swan reappears. Lohengrin prays that Elsa may recover her lost brother, and lo! the swan dives into the river and appears again in the form of young Gottfried, Elsa's brother, who had been turned into a swan by Ortrud's magic arts.

A dove descends from heaven, and, taking the place of the swan, leads Lohengrin in his boat to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa is stricken with grief, however, and falls to the ground dead, longing for her beloved.

Media

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

References

Plot taken from The Opera Goer's Complete Guide by Leo Melitz, 1921 version.

CD recordings of Lohengrin

Woldemar Nelsson conducting the Bayreuth Festival. Released in 1982 by CBS.
Claudio Abbado conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. Released in 1995 by Deutsche Grammophone.
Sir Colin Davis conducting the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra). Released in 1995 by RCA Red Seal.
Daniel Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin. Released in 1998 by Teldec.
Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1966; CD Released in 1998 by RCA Red Seal.
Eugen Jochum conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Bayreuth Festival (live-1954). Released in 1998 by Opera d'Oro/IODA.
Rudolf Kempe conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. Released in 2000 by EMI Classics.
Silvio Varviso conducting the Kungliga Teaterns Hovkapellet. Released in 2002 by Ponto Records.
Sir Georg Solti conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic). Released in 2003 by Decca.

External links

Richard Wagner - Lohengrin. A gallery of historic postcards with motives from Richard Wagner's operas.
Wagner's libretto (in German)
Further Lohengrin discography

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 Elsa appears surrounded by her attendants and, knowing herself innocent, declares that she is willing to submit to the judgment of God through the ordeal of combat. Elsa chooses a knight she has beheld in her dreams as her champion(Narrative: "Alone in dark days.") and sinks to her knees and prays that God send her relief. Telramund, at the behest of the king, agrees to fight.
-The Herald at first calls in vain upon the unknown knight, but when he calls the second time a miracle takes place. A boat appears on the river, drawn by a swan: in it is a knight in shining armour.  He lands, dismisses the swan, respectfully greets the king and asks Elsa if she will have him as her champion. Elsa kneels to him and places her honour in his keeping. He makes but one condition: she is never to ask him who he is or where he has come from. Elsa agrees to this, prayers are said, and the place of combat is prepared.
+At first, the Herald calls upon the unknown knight in vain. When he calls the second time, however, a miracle takes place. A boat drawn by a swan appears on the river and in it stands a knight in shining armour.  He lands and dismisses the swan before respectfully greeting the king and asks Elsa if she will have him as her champion. Elsa kneels in front of him and places her honour in his keeping. He asks but one thing in return for his service: she is never to ask him who he is or where he has come from. Elsa agrees to this and, after praying, the combat commences.
-Telramund is defeated. The victor grants him his life and, taking Elsa by the hand, declares her innocence, and asks her hand in marriage.
+Telramund is defeated, but the victor grants him his life. Taking Elsa by the hand, the Knight declares her as innocent and asks for her hand in marriage.
 ===Act II===
-The courtyard outside the cathedral. It is night. Telramund and Ortrud, who have been banished, appear in tattered garments. Ortrud tries to revive Telramund's courage; She is a heathen, the daughter of Radbod, the duke of Frisia, and deals in magic. She schemes to induce Elsa to ask Lohengrin the forbidden questions.
+Night in the courtyard outside the cathedral. Telramund and Ortrud, both banished, appear in tattered garments. Ortrud, a heathen and daughter of Radbod, the Duke of Frisia, tries to revive Telramund's courage through her magical powers. She plots to induce Elsa to violate the mysterious Knight's only condition.
-When Elsa appears on the balcony in the light of the morning, she sees Ortrud and pities her. Telramund, unobserved, retires into the shadow of a house. The populace assembles and the Herald announces that the king has offered to make the unnamed knight Duke of Brabant.  However, he refuses the title and wishes to be known only as "Guardian of Brabant."
+When Elsa appears on the balcony in the light of the morning, she sees Ortrud and takes pity upon her. Telramund, unobserved, retires into the shadow of a house. The populace assembles and the Herald announces that the king has offered to make the unnamed Knight the Duke of Brabant. He refuses the title, however, and requests to be known only as "Guardian of Brabant."
-As the king, Lohengrin, Elsa and her attendants are about to enter the church, Ortrud, clad in magnificent attire, appears and accuses Lohengrin of being a magician, whose name Elsa herself does not know. Telramund also appears and claims to have been vanquished by fraud, as he does not know the name of his opponent. Lohengrin refuses to reveal his identity, saying that one only has the right to know his origin. To Elsa alone will he answer. Elsa, though obviously shaken and uncertain, assures him of her confidence, and they enter the church.
+As the king, the Knight, Elsa and her attendants are about to enter the church, Ortrud, clad in magnificent attire, appears and accuses Lohengrin of being a magician. Telramund also appears and claims to have been vanquished by fraud, as he does not know the name of his opponent, and neither does the wife-to-be herself. Lohengrin refuses to reveal his identity and claims that only one has the right to know his origin -- Elsa and Elsa alone. Elsa, though visibly shaken and uncertain, assures the Knight of her confidence and they enter the church together.
 ===Act III===
 [[Image:Lohengrin - Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.png|thumb|350px|Illustration of the London première]]
-The bridal chamber. Elsa and Lohengrin are ushered in with the well-known bridal chorus. They express their love for each other, but Ortrud's words are impressed upon Elsa, and, despite Lohengrin's warning, she asks the fatal question. Telramund rushes in to attack the knight, but is slain by Lohengrin, who sorrowfully turns to Elsa, and asks her to follow him to the king, to whom he will now reveal the mystery.
+The bridal chamber. Elsa and Lohengrin are ushered in with the well-known bridal chorus and the couple expresses their love for each other. Ortrud's words, however, are impressed upon Elsa, and, despite the Knight's warning, she asks the fatal question. Telramund rushes into the room in order to attack the knight, but is instead slain himself by the Knight. The Knight sorrowfully turns to Elsa and asks her to follow him to the king, to whom he will now reveal the mystery.
-Change of scene: On the banks of the Scheldt, as in Act I. The troops arrive equipped for war. Telramund's corpse is brought in, and Lohengrin defends his act. One thing remains, he must now disclose his identity to the king and Elsa. He tells the story of the [[Holy Grail]], and reveals  himself as Lohengrin, knight of the Holy Grail, and son of King [[Parsifal]]. The time for his return has arrived, he has only tarried to prove Elsa's innocence.
+Change of scene: On the banks of the Scheldt, as in Act I. The troops arrive equipped for war. Telramund's corpse is brought in and Lohengrin defends his slaying of Telramund. One thing remains -- he must now disclose his identity to the king and Elsa. He tells the story of the [[Holy Grail]], and reveals  himself as Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail and son of King [[Parsifal]]. The time for his return has arrived and he has only tarried to prove Elsa innocent.
 As he sadly bids farewell to his beloved bride, the swan reappears. Lohengrin prays that Elsa may recover her lost brother, and lo! the swan dives into the river and appears again in the form of young Gottfried, Elsa's brother, who had been turned into a swan by Ortrud's magic arts.
-A dove descends from heaven, and taking the place of the swan leads Lohengrin in his boat back to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa, however, is stricken with grief, and falls dead to the ground, longing for her beloved.
+A dove descends from heaven, and, taking the place of the swan, leads Lohengrin in his boat to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa is stricken with grief, however, and falls to the ground dead, longing for her beloved.
 ==Media==