Wagner - Lohengrin / James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera

Rating:
Summary: Dreams fulfilled!
Review: Amazing that no one has ever written a commentary on this performance, even in its VHS format. Superb performance all around. It is difficult to single out anyone person because they are all good to outstanding. In my bias, I do single out Rysanek, whose "Orturd" is overwhelmingly sung and conceived. Her radiant voice fills out a great acting performance. The Met orchetra is equally outstanding. I am grateful that we have Rysanek in a live from the Met performance. She recorded little. They claim her voice was difficult to record (LP or Cd). Here she is the legend she already had become. She stated in her own words that she was not always satisfied with her recordings, although the RCA album of Italian arias did get her ok. Rysanek caught live surpasses Rysanek recorded in the studio. Live she was exciting and riviting. Her Chrysothemis is also available on a live from the Met with Nilsson as Elektra and Mignon Dunne as Clytemestra. That performance had the Met audience on its feet for nearly a hour hour at the curtains' fall. That, like this Lohengrin, is absolutely a "must have". Marton is caught in beautiful voice before its lamentable decline. Roar is an effective Telramund, never coarse of voice and Hofmann is the least stunning of the cast and he sings well and makes a very believable presence. So this gives you some idea of what you are in for. I'm been trying for many months (close to a year) to find this dvd format as I had it on VHS. It deserves to be a best seller along with the Elektra. Opera on dvd doesn't come along that often with this calabre of prodction, - No Euro-trash here - singing and overall excellence. Grab them while you can. Superb theater, great singing, outstanding orchestra playing. Wagner, Srauss and Rysanek must be very happy with this unequaled success.

Rating:
Summary: Another Triumph For Eva Marton!!!
Review: As Elsa,the lovely Miss Marton stole the show,despite attempts by the fading glory Leonie Rysanek to upstage her. I found Rysanek's voice as Ortud a bit caustic at times & shrill the rest of the time. Miss Marton maintained her composure,elegance & grace throughout. She brought the innocence to the role so needed when performing Elsa. Her voice was flawless. A true genius of a singer! She allowed her art to make her statement rather than pander to the crowd.The Lohengrin looked the part but fell short vocally. The music is glorious.The supporting singers are adequate.

Rating:
Summary: Another Triumph For Eva Marton!!!
Review: As Elsa,the lovely Miss Marton stole the show,despite attempts by the fading glory Leonie Rysanek to upstage her. I found Rysanek's voice as Ortud a bit caustic at times & shrill the rest of the time. Miss Marton maintained her composure,elegance & grace throughout. She brought the innocence to the role so needed when performing Elsa. Her voice was flawless. A true genius of a singer! She allowed her art to make her statement rather than pander to the crowd.The Lohengrin looked the part but fell short vocally. The music is glorious.The supporting singers are adequate.

Rating:
Summary: Slight Hiccup
Review: I must admit slight disappointment after watching this DVD. Let's start with the plus's: Levine's conducting, staging and chorus efforts are admirable. Hofmann's portrayl of Lohengrin, while coarse in some places, sounds great, Roar as Telramund also sings and acts well. Now the not so good moments: Marton, as much as I admire her vocal prowress, simply sounds too heavy for Elsa. Her acting is also too stifled and contrived. Rysanek as Ortrud, as intensely as her acting is, simply does not have the voice for her part. Her high notes, as secure as she places them, just do not hold much weight as compared with perhaps Waltraud Meier. Marton should have reprised Ortrud from the previous staging and another singer performed Elsa. Otherwise, the supporting roles are well filled. The other DVD version of Lohengrin with Domingo from the VSO also lacks a good Ortrud. Can we not perhaps have Meier's performances released? They must be lurking somewhere.................

Rating:
Summary: A different take on this production
Review: I was very excited to come across this Met performance by one of my favorite dramatic sopranos, Eva Marton. Wonderful dramatic gifts aside, I was quite disappointed and saddened by the amount of wear and tear the voice exhibited at this point by such a gifted actress and musician. She put tears in my eyes and touched my life when I saw her in a concert video singing "Sola, perduta, abbandonata" from Manon Lescaut. It is a rarity to have as much emotional depth as she had in that recital. I also hold the opinion that she attacks the role of Elsa with so much vocal force that it sounds as though it would be more fitting for Isolde. I believe that Cheryl Studer hit the nail more squarely on the head with a more lyrical approach to the vocalism in the Abbado-Vienna production, although Studer did not have Marton's depth of character. I am completely amazed at the choice of Telramund, Leif Roar, who made up for his apparent inability to sing the exposed high notes of the role by snarling and literally screaming them out in a melodramatic manner here, as well as in the Vienna State Opera venture also out on video. Levine and the Met Orchestra exhibit exceptional, intense playing here. In my humble opinion, the orchestra's comtribution was on of this production's saving graces. Peter Hofmann's voice as Lohengrin is crystal clear, youthful and as powerful as necessary here, but I prefer Placido Domingo's (in the Vienna production) warmth and color, although his German is un-idiomatic. Also what was up with Levine's shameful casting of the Herald, whose wobble was so great that it was impossible to discern his pitch?? One should be focusing on the drama at hand and not worrying about someone's attention-grabbing lack of technique. Shouldn't we expect more from the Met, with such a supposed standard of excellence? I am glad I bought this on Ebay and didn't pay full price.

Rating:
Summary: A great night at the Met!
Review: Some may dislike Wagner's lengthy tunes and overdone Leitmotifs -- especially on film -- but it takes a true Romantic to understand the beauty and sorrow of this story, one that chronicles the journey of the magical Swan Knight and his bride, Elsa von Brabant. James Levine leads the Met Opera Orchestra with incomparable grace, never drowning the singers or muffling Wagner's brilliant score. The choral work, however, is mediocre at best, though it picks up in Act III. The staging seemed a bit stiff at times, and while the set was impressively humongous, I would have liked to see a Swan and/or Dove incorporated in the story somehow. The cast was great, all except for Peter Hofmann, who made an unusually uninspired Lohengrin. Thankfully the others sparkled on stage: John Macurdy was a noble King Henry, Leif Roar a sensational Telramund, and Eva Marton a wonderfully-acted and sympathetic Elsa. But Leonie Rysanek, with her vibrant portrayal of the villainous Ortrud, stole the show many times over. She's one of the best in the opera biz, and in sensational voice for this 1986 production. Despite the flaws, which are, in all honesty, somewhat expected with Wagner, this show is an absolute delight and a welcome addition to any opera maven's DVD collection.