Wagner: Lohengrin (Bayreuth, 1990)

A few years after the release of his film Fitzcarraldo – about the construction of an opera house in the Peruvian jungle – German film director Werner Herzog was invited to direct Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival. Herzog shares with the composer the conviction that no true artist can shy away from challenges or adventures and that realising the impossible is an artistic imperative. In this, only his second opera production, the director tells the medieval story of the Swan Knight with poetic images and a fairy-tale atmosphere. Canadian tenor Paul Frey stars in the title role with star soprano Cheryl Studer as Elsa.

Soloists: 

Clemens Bieber (Tenor), Heinz Klaus Ecker (Bass), Paul Frey (Tenor), Peter Maus (Tenor), Robert Riener (Baritone), Manfred Schenk (Bass), Gabriele Schnaut (Soprano), Eike Wilm Schulte (Baritone), Cheryl Studer (Soprano), Ekkehard Wlaschiha (Baritone)

Ensembles: 

Bayreuth Festival Chorus, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

Conductor: 

Peter Schneider