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A silver egg shines in Rome Roma
Teatro dell’Opera
11/22/2025 - & November 27, 30, December 2, 5, 7*, 2025
Richard Wagner: Lohengrin
Clive Bayley (Heinrich der Vogler), Dmitry Korchak (Lohengrin), Jennifer Holloway (Elsa von Brabant), Tómas Tómasson (Friedrich von Telramund), Ekaterina Gubanova (Ortrud), Andrei Bondradenko (Der Heerrufer des Königs), Alejo Álavarez Castillo, Dayu Xu, Guangwei Yao, Jiacheng Fan (Vier brabantische Edle), Marilo Ilzuka, Cristina Tarantino, Silvia Pasini, Caterina d’Angelo (Vier Edelknaben)
Coro del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Ciro Visco (chorus master), Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Michele Mariotti (conductor)
Damiano Michieletto (stage director), Paolo Fantin (sets), Carla Teti (costumes), Alessandro Carletti (lighting), Mattia Palma (dramaturgy)
J. Holloway, D. Korchak (© Fabrizio Sansoni/Opera di Roma)
When one experiences a catastrophic opera, it takes a superlative staging to cancel the unfortunate experience. Having endured a dreadful Lohengrin this past August in Bayreuth, Yuval Sharon’s atrocious debacle that featured Elsa and the people of Brabant as moths, a serious purge was badly needed. Damiano Michieletto to the rescue!
Michieletto is possibly the opera world’s most brilliant director, as demonstrated by his superlative productions of Médée for Milan; Don Giovanni and Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Venice; Rossini’s Otello for Frankfurt; La Fille du régiment for Munich; and Il barbiere di Siviglia for Paris. But surprisingly, this creative mind has never tackled Wagner. This Lohengrin, opening the season in Rome, is his Wagnerian debut. Judging from its success, it promises to be an exciting new chapter in his creative journey.
Absent from the Teatro dell’Opera’s stage for exactly fifty years, the return of Lohengrin to Rome is a major event. Once Wagner’s most popular opera in Italy, it disappeared from the repertory ever since the diktat of performing operas in their original language. The event is heightened by Michele Mariotti being at the helm, as he’s the most promising conductor of his generation, and one with an affinity for German repertoire.
Michielietto’s premise is that Elsa, a weak woman, lacks faith. Her society, the Brabantians, are a subdued people who live under an authoritarian regime. The elite, and even King Heinrich der Vogler, are interested more in maintaining the social order than seeking justice. Before Lohengrin appears to champion Elsa, she’s thrown into a pit and covered with coal pellets so she nearly disappears. This image, and that of her subsequent rescue, were truly poignant.
Two major symbols recurred throughout the production: silver (the precious metal) and the egg. Silver, noble symbol of intuition and self‑awareness, first appears during the combat between Telramund and Lohengrin, not by sword but administered by “Divine justice.” A metallic structure descends from the sky and drips molten silver on each man. Telramund cannot withstand the pain and his arm is set ablaze, while the triumphant Lohengrin smears even more molten silver on his bare chest.
Silver also appears in the form of a huge suspended egg. In Act II, it’s in a glass casing, out of reach of a covetous Ortrud. The egg represents the mystery of Lohengrin and hence Ortrud’s curiosity. In Act III, when Lohengrin reveals his name, the egg splits open, spewing tar on Elsa’s face and those of the choristers. Their eyes are especially affected, symbolizing Elsa and the Brabatians’ blindness to Lohengrin’s noble nature. The precious metal returns in the shape of a silver curtain, covering the walls of the proscenium. It represents Montsalvat, home of Lohengrin and the Knights of the Holy Grail, reclaiming him.
Another striking image was Elsa obsessively removing a boy’s blue shirt and red shorts from a bathtub that represents the pond where her young brother had disappeared. There’s further symbolism in Lohengrin’s initial appearance. Instead of being pulled by a swan (as is the tradition), he’s pulling a child’s white coffin.
Michieletto’s preferred collaborators, Paolo Fantin (sets); Carla Teti (costumes); as well as lighting designer Alessandro Carletti, each added their splendid touch. The stage consisted of warm, light‑brown oak floor panels, symbolizing calm and serenity. These are occasionally moved to create a wall, an allusion to the siege by the marauding Hungarians. This is how Heinrich der Vogler keeps his grip on the Brabantians. This explains the state of terror in which they live; one of complacency and submission.
Teti’s white costumes for Lohengrin and Elsa contrasted effectively with the black ones worn by Telramund and Ortrud. As for the Brabantians, they were appropriately clad in grey. Lohengrin sported a casual white suit, reflecting his free condition. Telramund sported marvelously elegant tailcoats, and Ortrud, a 1930s deux pieces. Both were overdressed, expressing their ambition and insecurity. Carletti’s lighting alternated between soft, for the serene moments, and bright for the momentous episodes, such as Lohengrin’s first appearance, and Elsa prior to her wedding.
The cast was generally outstanding, with some provisos. Russian mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova, a magnificent Kundry in Parsifal and a memorable Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde in Bayreuth last August, does not possess the ideal voice for Ortrud, which requires a darker hue. However, Gubanova’s electrifying stage presence more than compensated. Thanks to her poignant phrasing, she conveyed Ortrud’s malevolence adroitly. Likewise, Iceland’s Tómas Tómasson was vocally lightweight for Telramund, but dramatically effective. Tómasson reinforced the view that he’s a weak man doing his domineering wife’s bidding – you might say a Flemish Macbeth.
Most impressive was Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak, in his first Wagnerian role, a luxury as opulent as Michael Spyres singing Siegmund in Die Walküre, and Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the last Bayreuth Festival. Both prises de rôle support the view that bel canto and Wagnerian singing are interrelated via the common link of Meyerbeer. Korchak’s venture into lyric Wagnerian roles is a welcome one, for he brings beauty of timbre and phrasing into a role often savaged by heavier voices. Moreover, he’s reached a stage in his career where the coloratura needed for usual bel canto repertoire is becoming harder. Indeed, in recent years, he’s been more effective in non‑bel canto roles, such as the Prince in Milan’s production of Rusalka. Korchak’s Lohengrin was a paragon of vocal elegance and lyricism, especially in his Act III arias, “In fernem Land” and “Mein lieber Schwann”. Dramatically, he was effective in conveying an appropriate otherworldly aura.
Another revelation was American soprano Jennifer Holloway, as Elsa. Recently heard as Sieglinde in Die Walküre in Bayreuth, and as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer in Dresden, Holloway is the ideal choice for Wagner’s lyric soprano roles. Endowed with a beautiful timbre, ease in the upper register and a strong middle and lower register, she masterfully uses her instrument to interpret the role in all its glory. As in the aforementioned roles, she was an incandescent Elsa, whose intensity was palpable throughout the performance. In Michieletto’s interpretation, Elsa is not only weak but possibly a simpleton or psychologically damaged. Nonetheless, one felt sorry for her, and even identified with her character’s struggles throughout the performance.
British bass Clive Bayley portrayed a fragile old King Heinrich der Vogler, dignified but burdened by power. Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondradenko, in great voice, portrayed the complacent bureaucratic “yes man”.
The choir, prominent in Lohengrin, was magnificently prepared by chorus master Ciro Visco. Though German is not often sung by this ensemble, the Coro del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma sang it convincingly.
As for the Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, they have come a long way under Michele Mariotti’s direction. To convincingly convey Lohengrin’s chivalric themes, Wagner scored his work for a Romantic orchestra, featuring rich, divided strings, a wide array of woodwinds, significant brass (including tuba!), and full percussion. These players performed masterfully, proving they were as excited to perform as we were to listen. One hopes Teatro dell’Opera de Roma under Mariotti will become a Wagnerian shrine in Italy’s capital.
Ossama el Naggar
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