Lohengrin
Adrianne Pieczonka, Peter Seiffert
Peter Seiffert
Richard Wagner
Act One
King Heinrich has summoned the Brabantians to join his army to defeat the threatened invasion of Germany from the East. Friedrich of Telramund, the chief vassal of the late Duke of Brabant, accuses Elsa, the Duke's daughter, of murdering her brother Gottfried, who has disappeared. He calls on Heinrich to sit in judgement. Telramund maintains that Elsa hopes to claim the ducal succession in her brother's place. A trial by combat between Telramund and whoever may appear as a champion for Elsa is to decide whether or not this accusation is true.
Elsa describes how she has had a dream in which a knight appeared who will defend her cause. The king has the knight summoned, but the summons remains unanswered, and Telramund is already confident of success. In her despair Elsa appeals to God for help, and the onlookers imagine they see a swan appearing in the distance, drawing a boat in which stands an unknown knight.
The knight promises Elsa that he will fight for her. He vows his love for her and offers her his hand in marriage, on condition that she never asks him what his name is or where he is from. Elsa gives him her word. The unknown knight emerges victorious from the duel with Telramund but spares the latter's life. The Brabantians praise the stranger and welcome him in their midst.
Act Two
Telramund is bitterly mourning the loss of his honour. Ortrud, his wife, decides to sow seeds of doubt and mistrust in Elsa's mind and thus try to weaken her unshakeable love for the unknown knight. In the darkness of the night she begins her persuasive work and worms her way successfully into Elsa's confidence.
Next morning the commander of the king's army announces that Telramund has been banished; the unknown knight, who is to marry Elsa that day, has been proclaimed protector of Brabant and will lead the Brabantians into war at the king's side.
As the bridal procession approaches the minster, Ortrud throws herself in Elsa's path and claims that Elsa and the unknown knight, shrouded in secrecy as he is, have no claim to the ducal title. She goes on to claim that she, Ortrud, whose ancestors once ruled over Brabant, is the rightful successor. Elsa faces up to Ortrud's challenge, firm in her belief in the honour of the unknown knight.
The king and the unknown knight try to settle the quarrel in front of the minster. Telramund, who has placed himself under the protection of the church, tries to regain the honour he has lost and demands that the knight should reveal his identity. The knight, however, refuses to give any information about his person. The Brabantians are shocked but assure him of their continued loyalty. In spite of her uncertainty, Elsa promises to love her husband and place all her trust in him.
Act Three
The couple are led to the bridal chamber. Elsa's greatest desire is to prove herself worthy of her husband’s love. She tries ever more desperately to find out who her husband is in reality, whether he is in need of help and how she can help him: and finally asks him the forbidden question. At that moment Telramund bursts in. In the ensuing struggle the knight kills Telramund and gives orders for the corpse to be brought before the king.
King Heinrich and the Brabantians are gathered to procede into war. Elsa's husband, who was to have led the Brabantians into battle, tells them that he has come to say farewell. He reveals that he is Lohengrin, a knight of the Grail and the son of Parsifal, king of the Grail. Elsa has broken her vow and the couple must part forever. Lohengrin must return to the world he came from and bids Elsa a sad farewell. Ortrud reveals triumphantly that she changed Gottfried into a swan, but Elsa has prevented her brother from being freed from the spell with her question. In some mysterious way, however, Gottfried appears and is declared by Lohengrin, as he departs, to be the new ruler of Brabant. The only response he receives is the lament of a world which now has to survive without miracles.
Translation: Susan Bollinger
© Bavarian State Opera
