It’s hard to describe all the things that are wrong in the current production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Music Center. The set, the costumes, the directing all do disservice to the mythic qualities of the legend. The romantic element becomes secondary to the political machinations.
Although the story is supposed to take place in medieval times, forward quite a few years as Germany is about to engage in a war with Hungary. The setting is the shell of a burned down church in Brabant where wounded soldiers lie on the ground tended by nurses in bloodied aprons.
Brabant is in a state of unrest. Friedrich, the guardian of Elsa, accuses her of murdering her brother who is the heir to the throne. Elsa, dressed like a peasant, prays for a knight to come and defend her in combat. The great Lohengrin appears wearing a dirty shirt and a shiny boot. Anticlimactic describes his momentous appearance.
Against the knight, Friedrich has no chance, dressed as he is in a brown suit with vest and bow tie. Elsa is declared innocent and marries Lohengrin as the famous wedding march is played. Elsa is wearing an ugly black dress and a white veil. Why black? Why surround her with townspeople who have barely survived a battle? Why set the wedding bed in the ruins of the church?
The cast, however, was a notable one with an outstanding performance by Delora Zajick as Friedrich’s wife, Ortrud. Ben Heppner, as Lohengrin, is a heavyweight tenor. Others in the reliable cast were soprano Soile Isokoski as a sweet Elsa; James Johnson as Friedrich; Kristinn Sigmundsson as King Heinrich and Eike Wilm Schulte as the king’s herald.
Fortunately, Wagner’s divine music was in the hands of music director James Conlon, leading the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. In the legend, Lohengrin enters on a swan. Here there is no swan and no magic.