The World's Most Famous Operas — Lohengrin

The World's Most Famous Operas

• Lohengrin •

Music by: Richard Wagner
(1813–1883)

Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani

An opera in three acts by Richard Wagner, first produced at Weimar in 1850.

The characters:
• Elsa, Princess of Brabant
• Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail
• Count Telramund
• Ortrud, his wife
• King Henry, King of Germany
• The King's Herald
• Nobles of Brabant, Thuringia, and Saxony; servants, maids of honor, and men of the royal retinue.

Time: the tenth century.
Place: Antwerp.

Act One

Scene: a meadow outside the city of Antwerp.

Brabant is a small principality, and part of a great kingdom over which King Henry holds authority. The King has come down to Brabant, and when the curtain rises we see him holding court beneath a mighty oak tree outside the city of Antwerp, near the bank of the river Scheldt. The former ruler of Brabant left two children: a daughter named Elsa, and a younger son named Gottfried, the true heir to the throne. Count Telramund holds the guardianship of the two orphans and the regency of Brabant. As for Telramund's wife, named Ortrud, she weaves plots to be rid of the two orphans and to set her husband upon the throne of Brabant.

The little Prince Gottfried disappears, and no one knows what has become of him. Telramund accuses the Princess Elsa of killing him. Elsa is summoned to defend herself and refute this charge. She comes forward, surrounded by her maids of honor. She is asked, according to established custom, to name a knight who will defend her by dueling Telramund, the author of the accusation. Elsa confesses that she has no one to defend her but a knight she saw in a dream, clad in shining armor, who drew near her and murmured words of consolation in her ears. She would have no champion but him.

The trumpets ring out, and the royal herald summons the knight, but silence still reigns. The call is repeated twice, and on the third time the herald proclaims his summons. Whispering rises among the crowd, and astonishment spreads. And soon the onlookers see a swan swimming in the river, drawing behind it a small boat bound to it by a golden chain, in which stands "a knight in shining armor."

The knight steps ashore on the riverbank, bids the swan farewell, then turns to the King, declaring that he has come to defend Elsa, and asking for Elsa's hand after he defeats her adversary — in return for one condition: that she never ask him his name, nor whence he came. Elsa, who is all but in a trance, quickly agrees to the condition. There follows a moving prayer in which the King implores that right may prevail, and all present join him in offering it. The place of the duel is appointed, the trumpets sound, and the King strikes his shield with his sword three times as the signal for the duel to begin — a duel that does not last long. Lohengrin at once strikes a thunderbolt of a blow that fells Telramund to the ground, but he does not wish to kill him. The cheers of the crowd rise in salute to the victor. Lohengrin embraces Elsa with joy and delight, and the act ends with jubilant commotion reigning over all — except Telramund and his wife Ortrud.

Scene: the courtyard of the castle of Antwerp.

Three buildings surround the courtyard: at the rear, the knights' dwelling; on the left, the women's wing; on the right, the façade of the huge cathedral. It is night, and Telramund and Ortrud are hiding in the pitch darkness, quarreling, each blaming the other for this disgrace that has dragged them into exile. Telramund attributes his shameful fall to Ortrud's plotting, and she, furious, tells him that if he could spill a single drop of Lohengrin's blood, this knight of the shining armor would lose his magic power. Yet she affirms, nonetheless, that hope is not entirely lost, for in her view Lohengrin's supernatural power is bound up with his name. If the name were known, he would become like other men. And there is no one but Elsa who can learn his name. Telramund and Ortrud then swear to avenge the disgrace that has befallen them.

Elsa appears on the balcony, singing to the wandering breeze. Ortrud then sends her husband away and approaches Elsa, deceitful and wily, telling her that she is her friend and hopes for nothing but her happiness, and expressing her remorse for the unintended harm that she and Telramund may have harbored against her. And while making this show of good will, she tries to plant the seeds of doubt and suspicion in her soul concerning the origin of her bridegroom. But the happy Elsa dismisses every suspicion, and yet asks Ortrud to wait for her.

She returns to her room, while Ortrud pours out her fervent supplications to the gods Odin and Freia. Elsa comes down from the balcony and appears at the door of the women's wing with two ladies of honor, and invites Ortrud to help her arrange the wedding celebration. Dawn breaks, the sky brightens little by little, trumpet calls sound from every quarter of the castle, and the day's business begins. Soon the castle courtyard fills with soldiers, knights, and men of the court. The herald proclaims the banishment of Telramund and the marriage of Lohengrin and Elsa.

Elsa comes out of the women's wing in a splendid procession, surrounded by her maids of honor, and crosses the castle courtyard; but before she reaches the cathedral steps the procession is blocked by Ortrud, who declares with full pride that she will no longer abase herself before Elsa, nor be her servant, but will take her rightful place. Then she demands that she proclaim the name of the man she is to wed. Elsa answers with pride and dignity that her bridegroom is a knight beyond reproach, who defeated Telramund in honorable combat and spared his life. But Ortrud insists that the unknown warrior is a wicked sorcerer...

Meanwhile King Henry, Lohengrin, and some of the knights come into the courtyard. Ortrud is pushed out of the way, and the procession continues on its course; but Telramund blocks it, demanding that his words be heard, repeating his wife's accusations — that Lohengrin is a sorcerer who prevailed over him only by the power of magic. Lohengrin replies to this by saying that his honor is beyond suspicion, and that he is answerable to no one, save Elsa alone. The King and the rest of the knights gather around Lohengrin, affirming his words, and the order is given to remove Telramund and his wife Ortrud.

After this stormy scene the wedding procession resumes its advance, while Telramund and Ortrud stand to one side, confident that they have planted the seeds of doubt in Elsa's soul. Lohengrin himself has perceived this, for he has seen fear and doubt in Elsa's eyes. And no sooner do the bridal pair reach the cathedral door than Ortrud raises her hand in menace, and the orchestra thunders with a grim theme that signifies the fateful questions Elsa promised never to ask.

Act Three

Scene: in the bridal chamber.
The curtain rises and the well-known "Wedding March" is heard. The bridal pair enter the bridal chamber accompanied by the King and a number of attendants and followers. After a few brief ceremonies the newlyweds are left alone. There follows a sweet, tender dialogue in which each one's trust in the other, and her happiness, shine forth. But the seeds of doubt remain in Elsa's soul concerning the name of her knight and hero, and his origin. In vain does he try to reassure her. It seems to Elsa that she sees the swan coming to snatch her husband from her. In the depth of her despair, and as though a demonic power were driving her to it, she asks the fateful questions: "What is your name? Whence did you come? Who are you?"
And before the sorrowful knight can answer, Telramund enters the room, sword in hand. Elsa cries out to Lohengrin: "Defend yourself!" and hands him his sword. With a single magic blow Lohengrin strikes Telramund to the ground, a lifeless corpse, and repeats in sorrow, and with a great heart: "Alas, our happiness has flown!"

Scene Two:

The King again holds court beneath the oak tree, surrounded by all the nobles of Brabant. The body of Telramund is carried in, and it is ruled that Lohengrin was in the right in slaying his enemy. But now he must tell them that Elsa asked him the fateful questions, and he is bound to answer.

Lohengrin confesses that he is from Monsalvat, the home of the knights of the Holy Grail; that Parsifal, the leader of those knights, is his father; and that his name is Lohengrin. The swan comes, drawing the boat to the shore, and Lohengrin receives it sorrowfully. He bends toward Elsa and bids her farewell with a grieving heart, and gives her his horn, his ring, and his sword for her brother Gottfried, should he return.
He sinks to his knees and prays, and the chorus performs the anthem of the Holy Grail, while the white dove of the Grail descends from heaven and hovers over the boat. The moment Lohengrin sees it he leaps to his feet and unfastens the golden chain that binds the swan to the boat; the swan sinks, and in its place there rises on the riverbank a handsome young man clad in gleaming silver garments. Lohengrin cries: "Behold your ruler!"
At the sight of the young Prince Gottfried, Ortrud sinks into the river after a cry escapes her. For it was she who, by her witchcraft and magic, had transformed the prince into a swan, falsely and slanderously accusing his sister Elsa of killing him. Lohengrin rushes to the boat, and the dove (in place of the swan) takes up the golden chain and draws the boat across the river. A last cry of despair escapes Elsa: "My husband, my husband!" — while Lohengrin's face recedes from her little by little.