December 9, 1995

WAGNER: Lohengrin

Sweet, Marton; Heppner, Leiferkus, Terfel, Rootering; Bavarian Radio, C. Davis. RCA Victor 09026-62646-2 (3)

Ben Heppner does a lot to bring the difficult character of Lohengrin to life.... Sharon Sweet's Elsa is likewise alive to the text.

The question about this new Lohengrin is whether its assets -- the singing of Ben Heppner in the title role, the conducting of Colin Davis and the Elsa of Sharon Sweet -- outweigh one liability, Eva Marton's Ortrud.

Heppner is extraordinary, giving a solidly expansive performance of poise and breadth. The voice is both strong and youthful, and he knows what he is singing about. Heppner's sense of phrasing, allied with his commanding voice, does a lot to bring the difficult character of Lohengrin to life, and the third act is clearly his -- not only in the tenderly evocative bridal chamber scene and rapt "In fernem Land" but in the limpid loveliness of his farewell. Sweet's Elsa is likewise alive to the text, as well as mellifluous, and her conception is devotional, if lacking in that final measure of inner ecstasy of the best of her competition. Sergei Leiferkus sounds darkly threatening as Telramund but does not bring enough vocal characterization to the role.

Jan-Hendrik Rootering makes a forceful, kingly Heinrich, and Bryn Terfel is luxury casting for the short role of the Herald. Davis' no-nonsense leadership is a decided plus, especially when it demonstrates the flexibility to carry the opera forward in its numerous choral scenes. If Davis emphasizes the historical basis of Lohengrin more than its mystic aura, this is no sin.

The problem with Marton's Ortrud is less the present quality of the voice than her generalized conception of the role. True, she sounds fluttery as a frightened bird and shrill as a fire siren; her final brief sneering moment is almost unlistenable, for the wrong reasons, and "Entweihte Gütter!" lacks weight and force.

What is really missing, however, is the sense of one of the great two-faced roles in all opera: we do not hear the interplay of genuine and fraudulent emotions that Wagner built into Ortrud's relatively small part.

The recording is oratorio-style rather than stage-alive, with soloists miked so that they stand out from the background chorus. The whole, typical of Munich-based recordings, is rather two-dimensional. Nonetheless, for Heppner's Lohengrin alone it merits attention.

- P.J.S.