Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Sir Mark Elder - Wagner: Lohengrin (2017) [CD Rip]

Sir Mark Elder and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra recorded Richard Wagner's Lohengrin on December 18 and 20, 2015, and the Super Audio presentation on RCO is a combination of the best parts of those concert performances. While he is yet to be counted among the great Wagner conductors, Elder has a handful of recordings to his credit, and he has been working his way through the music dramas in similar unstaged presentations with The Halle in Manchester. This performance provides a change of venue, and the exceptional playing of the Concertgebouw makes this a performance Wagner fans will relish. Featured in this production are tenor Klaus Florian Vogt as the legendary Swan Knight, soprano Camilla Nylund as Elsa, baritone Evgeny Nikitin as Telramund, soprano Katarina Dalayman as Ortrud, and bass Falk Struckman as Konig Heinrich, and even though the cast doesn't offer the powerful Wagnerian voices of the past, the singing is strong and clearly understood, and the combined forces of the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Chorus of the Dutch National Opera provide a richly textured sound. However, there is a perceptible lack of intensity in the acting, which is directed outward to the audience, rather than between the characters, so the story's tension is minimized. Even so, this is a terrific recording for newcomers to Lohengrin, and even experienced listeners will find much to enjoy in the splendid multichannel recording. -- Blair Sanderson