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Gramophone, May 2013 |
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Wagner's greatest roles by today's leading interpreters
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Jonas Kaufmann on Lohengrin
My first encounter with Lohengrin was my Grandpa Fritz, sitting at the
piano, playing the score and singing all the leading parts, from King Henry
to Elsa. He was the perfect Wagnerian. He played from those old scores that
were nicely decorated with stage pictures and a summary of the leitmotifs.
For me as a kid this was as exciting as reading the fairy-tale books by the
Grimm Brothers.
Next I listened to Lohengrin on records — my father
had a big record collection — but it took several more years until I saw it
at the opera house. When I finally studied the part, for the new production
in Munich, I was amazed at how many parts of the music are marked piano and
pianissimo — just think of the Grail Narration.
I've listened to
several great recordings of Lohengrin and to many singers in the title-role.
Wagner called Lohengrin his most Italian opera, and if you listen carefully,
you can hear the beautiful melodies, the `Italian' phrases, the legato
lines. For me, it's a pleasure to listen to the opera in Italian — the live
recording with Renata Tebaldi, for example. Listening to other singers is
always a source of inspiration, but you should never look for a role model:
following in someone else's footsteps means that you will never do it your
own way. The most important advice I give to young singers is, 'Always be
true to yourself!'
The main technical challenge of singing Lohengrin
is that you have to have a voice which can do justice to the very soft and
lyrical parts as well as to the heroic phrases. This is why the last act is
quite a challenge. When Lohengrin sings his farewell to Elsa, those lines
are heartbreaking for the singer as well as for the audience, and you have
to be very careful not to let yourself get carried away by the emotion.
Of course, this is a love story that has no chance of a happy ending. 'I
love you, trust me, but never ask for my name!' is basically what Lohengrin
is saying — but where is the woman who could possibly live with this?
The most rewarding thing about singing Lohengrin, and Wagner's music in
general, is discovering that the required sound is not always as heavy as we
have it in our minds. There are so many phrases that are of the utmost
delicacy and which need the virtues of bel canto singing.
When I
learned the role of Manrico in Verdi's II trovatore in between performances
of Parsifal at the Met, I quite often had the feeling that singing Verdi was
'the real thing'. And then, after a Parsifal performance, I'd say to Rene
Pape: 'Is there anything more satisfying than singing Wagner?' Thank God I
don't have to make a choice between singing the two — I'm happy to live in
both worlds and, when it comes to vocal health, I'm convinced that one
benefits the other. Singing Verdi helps me to sing Wagner more beautifully,
and singing Wagner gives me the best training to tackle those passages in
Verdi roles that need an extra portion of stamina and vocal energy. |
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