Linz stages Lohengrin as a charismatic manipulator

The Landestheater Linz presents Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin” as a story about a manipulator exploiting a society in crisis, ORF reports. The production premieres in Linz on Saturday evening, with Christoph Koncz, the designated chief conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, leading the music.

A swan announces Lohengrin’s arrival. Dressed in white, he rescues Elsa, who has been accused of killing her brother, then lays down his rules: she must not ask his name or where he comes from.

Marco Jentzsch, who sings the title role, describes Lohengrin not as a hero but as a populist and seducer who arrives to establish a new society. His entrance quickly wins people over, Jentzsch said.

Director Michael Schulz sets Wagner’s fairy-tale story in the present, with society on unstable footing. Lohengrin exploits a power vacuum to impose his vision of an ideal order, based on one rule: ask no questions. The public follows him nonetheless.

Schulz sees Lohengrin not as a fairy-tale prince but as a calculating manipulator. Wagner’s grand music, he said, helps make the character so alluring, particularly in times of uncertainty and longing for simple answers.

Elsa is sung by Dorothea Herbert and Erica Eloff. For Koncz, the production marks both his first new production at the Landestheater Linz as the orchestra’s designated chief conductor and his first Wagner opera as a conductor. He is due to take up the chief conductor post in September 2027.