Theatre / Lohengrin

Detail from the Lohengrin tapestry at Castle Neuschwanstein, commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

Lohengrin is the sixth opera by Richard Wagner, and his last conventional opera, based on the Germanic canon of Arthurian Legends. It was written from 1845 to 1848, and first staged in 1850.

Antwerpen in the 10th Century. There's quite the Succession Crisis in this place: the child-Duke Gottfried of Brabant has disappeared and his regent and uncle, Count Friederich von Telramund, accuses Gottfried's older sister Elsa of having murdered him. King Henry the Fowler feels he cannot decide on his own, and decides that the best solution would be a Trial by Combat - that is, if someone is willing to be Elsa's Knight.

All of a sudden, a mysterious knight appears in a boat drawn by a swan and offers to fight for Elsa - on the sole condition that she never ask him what his name is or where he comes from. He defeats Telramund and he and Elsa get married, but on their wedding night she cannot stop herself from asking the forbidden question, egged on by her own insecurities about Lohengrin's feelings for her and by Telramund's manipulative wife Ortrud.

This was King Ludwig II of Bavaria's favorite opera and myth (he identified a lot with the eponymous protagonist), and the reason his famous Big Fancy Castle, Neuschwanstein ("The New Rock of the Swan"), has swan pictures and sculptures everywhere.

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Tropes appearing in this opera:

• Anti-Villain: Friedrich von Telramund is way too proud, stubborn and jealous of his honor, and that leads him into villainy. But those are just the qualities one would expect in a successful leader in a rough time, when the Danes or Hungarians might invade at any moment, and you need someone tough and super-confident to rally the troops. And up until his disgrace, the Brabantines certainly do respect his leadership ("Who here dares fight against my prized honor?"—"Not us – we fight only for you!"). Also he is unaware that his wife Ortrud is manipulating him, and genuinely believes that Elsa has killed her brother and that Lohengrin won the trial by combat through magic.
• Big Entrance: Lohengrin's majestic arrival on a boat pulled by a swan, just as Elsa needs to be saved from Telramund's accusations by him.
• Combat by Champion: Elsa can't fight by herself of course, so Lohengrin fights the Trial by Combat against Telramund for her.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: It takes about a minute before Telramund is on his back with Lohengrin's sword-point at his throat.
• Despair Event Horizon: When everything definitely sinks in and Lohengrin must leave, Elsa collapses and falls victim to Death by Despair. The same ultimately happens to Ortrud.
• Divided We Fall: The main point of the King's first speech — we must unite against the Hungarian threat. After Telramund's disgrace, his closest men argue that the King lacks the authority to take them away from their land, and if they prevailed, Germany would fall province by province.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Ortrud and Telramund are alto and baritone respectively. They are also the villains of the piece.
  • Averted with King Heinrich, who is the deepest voice part in the cast (a bass, rather than baritone) but is a Reasonable Authority Figure.
• Forced Transformation: What actually happened to poor Gottfried, at the hands of Ortrud. He is the swan that draws Lohengrin's boat, and only recovers his human form at the end of the opera thanks to Lohengrin's prayers.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Lohengrin himself; it's pretty much a requirement for being a Knight of the Grail.
• I Know Your True Name: This is the exact reason why Lohengrin must hide his identity. It's less about the name in itself and more about how his powers as the Swan Knight come from the Holy Grail, and if someone identifies him as Lohengrin, they'll be able to easily find out about his connection to Grail and he will be forced to leave. Which is what happens in the end.
• It's All About Me: The King and chorus pray for the combat to result in justice. Telramund is praying: "God, do not forsake my honor!" Ortrud understands this part of his character and uses it consistently to deceive and manipulate him.
• Innocent Soprano: Elsa is a soprano and is fittingly a innocent, kind Damsel in Distress. Her innocence and naivety is the reason the villains end up easily manipulating her.
• Just the First Citizen: In a likely homage to Godefroy de Bouillon, Lohengrin refuses the title of Duke, preferring to be called simply the "Protector (Schützer) of Brabant." (In Wagner's original libretto the title is "Leader of Brabant" — i.e. "Führer" — but that is changed nowadays for obvious reasons.)
• Knight in Shining Armor: Lohengrin, who's pure of heart and puts his life on the line for Elsa.
• Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: The bridal chorus "Treulich geführt ziehet dahin" that opens Act III is one of the two constituents of this trope. The fact that the bridal chorus has become so associated with marriages is ironic, since this opera doesn't exactly end with a long and happy marriage.
• The Old Gods: Ortrud secretly worships Wodan and Freia, and wishes to visit their vengeance on those who have forsaken them. Wagner would revisit such legends later on.
• Pimped-Out Dress: In the 2010 production by Hans Neuenfel, Elsa and Ortrud wear the same dress to Elsa's wedding. The dresses have long High-Class Gloves, a sparkling bodice, and skirts covered with feathers. The difference is Elsa's dress is white like a Fairytale Wedding Dress, and Ortrud's dress is black.
• Playing the Victim Card: How Ortrud gains Elsa's ear, after failing to have her framed and executed.
  Ortrud: Will you completely disown the poor creature
  Whom you have cast into the distant reaches of exile?...
  "Unfortunate woman!" How right you are to call me that!
  In the distant solitude of the wood
  Where I was living quietly and peacefully,
  What did I do to you? What did I do to you?
  • (The last question has some pretty definite answers, but Elsa does not know them.)
• Reasonable Authority Figure: King Heinrich. He refuses to rule for his brave and loyal subject Telramund, no matter how strongly he's reminded of his great service. In fact he turns the case over to "God's Judgment" (i.e., trial by combat) to get his own bias out of it.
• Spoiler Title: Lohengrin's name isn't known until quite late in the opera.
• Summoning Artifact: The eponymous Swan Knight, forced to leave his wife, gives her a horn to give to her brother if she ever sees him again, promising that the horn will bring aid in danger.
• Swans A-Swimming: Lohengrin's Animal Motif of course. He famously appears in a boat pulled by a swan. It turns out the swan was Gottfried, who was cursed by Ortrud.
• Trial by Combat: The swan knight fights Telramund in judicial combat as Elsa's champion.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • In the beginning of Act II, Telramund has an epic one over losing to Lohengrin in the ordeal, which cleared Elsa of Telramund's accusations. "For my honor, my honor, my honor is gone!" — sung with extreme rage, and he comes close to attacking Ortrud out of blind rage over it.
  • Ortrud in the end, when Lohengrin reverts her spell and turns the swan back into Gottfried, and she falls down dead on the spot..
• Villain Song: Ortrud's terrifying aria, Entweihte Götter! ("You gods profaned!")
• Villainous Valour: Telramund might be egotistical and gullible, but he won't back down from a fight, even if his opponent seems divinely favored. "Far better dead than a coward!"

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