This new
Lohengrin, recorded in a single take at a live concert in 2011, continues the fine recording project from PentaTone that seeks to set down ten Wagner operas in performances glowing in the amber hue of brilliant surround sound.
…this current recording must also be considered a favorite, placing Wagner fans, and especially audiophile Wagner fans, in a most enviable position. The main reason to acquire this disc resides not in the conducting, which is very solid and firm under the hand of Janowski, but the delightfully fleet and fluent singing of the Lohengrin, Klaus Florian Vogt. His voice is off-putting at first, so light and almost adolescent it sounds, but then as time goes on you realize how perfect it really is for this role, easily sailing
along Wagner’s orchestrally highlighted melodies, and giving us a plethora of vocal color that is just not known in most recordings. Annette Dasch’s Elsa likewise is capable of the most sensitive vocal shading, and has an ability to project Elsa’s continuously transformational emotional states within the confines of a magnificent soprano instrument. The rest of the cast is equally fine…
Orchestrally things could hardly be better…the strings…have the measure of the music, and the brass project with thrilling abandon in all the right places. The placement of the offstage instruments really comes to life in this marvelously-engineered recording.
…overall this is a tremendous recording that competes well with any reading currently available. © 2012 Audiophile Audition Read complete review
