Wagner's 'Lohengrin'

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

In Weimar, Germany, on today’s date in 1850, Hungarian composer Franz Liszt conducted the first performance of Lohengrin, a new opera by German composer Richard Wagner. Liszt was determined to make Weimar famous, musically-speaking, despite the rather provincial nature of the forces he had at his disposal.

Liszt had to go out and buy a bass clarinet, since the Court orchestra didn’t own one, and he beefed up the number of violins from the usual 11 players to a grand total of 18.

The title role of Lohengrin was sung by a tenor named Karl Beck, who was also a local baker. Even so, Liszt’s unprecedented 46 rehearsals apparently paid off: the premiere of Lohengrin was a big success and helped put both Weimar and Wagner on the map.

Ironically, Wagner was unable to attend the premiere. He was a wanted man on German soil, having participated in the unsuccessful Dresden uprising of 1849, and there was a warrant out for his arrest. Liszt had helped him escape to Switzerland, and while his opera was being staged in Weimar, Wagner was at a hotel in Lucerne, listening in his imagination, he later told Liszt, as each scene unfolded.

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Lohengrin; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra; Peter Schneider, conductor; Philips 438 500