Lohengrin: Lohengrin's Entrance

Piotr Beczała, as the title character, and the Met Chorus sing an excerpt from Act I in an early dress rehearsal. Production: François Girard. Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 2022-23 season. Videography by Pete Scalzitti.

[@utenorman1283]

Just saw the whole production in a movie theater in Cologne and can hardly breathe, it moved me soooo much!!!! I loved each and every minute. A huge thank you to the whole team. It was magnificent.

[@patrickmcgehee6274]

Will be seeing the encore this week. Looking forward to it!

[@utenorman1283]

@@patrickmcgehee6274 You are so lucky! How wonderful for you! The audience was wonderful too, so enthusiastic, I really had an amazing experience tonight, which made me miss New York so much.

[@barbarachmielewska]

I saw this Lohengrin at the opera house on March 18th, and Piotr Beczala's singing was glorious!!! The production was compact, with beautiful cosmic projections, and the chorus and orchestra were (appropriately) heavenly! Now I can only hope for a DVD.

[@marinakoreytem5821]

Great performance !! ❤❤ 🎶👏👏Fantastic Piotr Beczala 👍👍🎶🎶😍😍Bravo👏👏

[@johnfreed6025]

I saw the first performance of this production. It was truly excellent. One of the best performances of any opera I have seen at the Met.

[@paulpadillo4591]

Yes, please! I'm already liking what I've seen of this production, but I DO wish the Wilson had gotten an HD outting at least for historical purposes. Piotr . . . knock it out of the park, brother!

[@alicjabach5404]

Świetny śpiew a nad wszystkim Pan Piotr góruje! Brawo!!!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Dziękuję za wsparcie, jestem bardzo wdzięczny, że jesteś jednym z moich wielkich fanów

[@genec1694]

The entrance of a knight of the grail in all the splendor of white button down shirt…

[@P3PP3RTH3TH3RIAN]

Inexplicable costuming choice……..

[@SteveL2012]

Untucked nonetheless.

[@verdiguy]

@@P3PP3RTH3TH3RIAN Watch Girard's production of Parsifal from the Met. All of the Grail knights wore the same thing so I think this costuming decicion is a nod to that production. I do miss the swan...

[@baritono1974]

that was my first thought too! Did he forgot the costume? or was he late at the entrance?

[@verdiguy]

@@margaretham5832 If you're expecting silver armour, you're going to be disappointed. That is his costume.

[@simonsusan8589]

I will be there at opening to see the Swan Knight at the Met! The greatest tenor Piotr Beczala as he graces the Met stage in Lohengrin! The only Wagner role he's sung which he made exuberant in Dresden and Bayreuth. What an entrance!!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

I'm grateful for all your support 🤗 Thank you so much and I'm proud to have you as one of my great fan 💓

[@Eknalb]

Bravo, bravo Piotr Beczala!

[@normanzurich2781]

❤❤❤the best ❤❤❤

[@anipetdin]

Perfekt, ich freue mich auf die Premiere am Sonntag 26.02.23 :-) Fliege morgen aus FRA herüber. Hoffe der Schwan ist pünktlich!

[@janielarson9641]

Enjoy! ❤👍

[@wotan10950]

I’m seeing it at the Met on the Saturday matinee. I know the voices are wonderful, and the staging looks interesting. No, it doesn’t have to be Peter Hoffmann in the Liberace suit, but the Wilson production provided the best nap I’ve yet had at the Met. So glad it’s gone. Some of the productions Kaufmann has appeared in Germany are pretty off-the-wall.

[@zenoviachinchay2798]

Bravo!!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

🙏🙏🌹🌹💕

[@cantorandopera]

Cant wait!

[@janielarson9641]

Enjoy! ❤️👍 Please do a review!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Halo I'm really so grateful seeing at my official page how dedicated you have been both your comments and I'm so happy to have you as one of my favorites fans🌹❣️

[@sayersbrock]

Business casual it is...

[@BellaFirenze]

A Knight of the Grail dressed like a waiter. No swan.

[@isabellak8455]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Hello thank you for all your support, actually I'm grateful having you as one of my favorite fan

[@Edwards-Videos]

Great singing. However, as with François Girard'a production of Parsifal, he hasn't bothered to read the libretto. Lohengrin is singing to the swan that brought him. So, why is there no swan.

[@barbarachmielewska]

@Edward's Videos. Of course there IS a swan. Otherwise, why would Lohengrin be singing with his back to the people... You can't see it because it is so high up. 😀

[@Edwards-Videos]

@@barbarachmielewska At 1:22 he is clearly NOT singing to any swan, but towards the front of the stage. Plus, if there is a swan, we should be able to see it. Sorry, but why would Lohengrin need to walk up and over an embankment which would clearly mean that everyone else is at, or below, the water? Ridiculous.

[@barbarachmielewska]

@@Edwards-Videos I guess, because it is a fairy tale? And of course, swans can fly 😀

[@annamariabahgat7151]

Es könnte doch sein, dass sich der An -Ablegesteg für Schwäne auf der Hinterbühne des Hauses befindet?😉

[@downfromkentuckeh]

@@barbarachmielewska that's no excuse

[@barbarachmielewska]

Beautiful singing!! ❤️

[@janielarson9641]

Totally agree! ❤👍

[@barbarachmielewska]

@@janielarson9641 Hello Janie, so nice to see you here again! ❤️

[@ivherz]

Wunderschöen!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Vielen Dank für Ihre Unterstützung. Ich bin dankbar, dass Sie einer meiner großen Fans sind und freue mich darauf, mehr über Sie zu erfahren

[@ivherz]

@@beczalapiotr3075 Brasil!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Muito obrigado por voltar para mim e eu realmente gostaria de conhecê-lo também.🌹💕💕🙏

[@ivherz]

@@beczalapiotr3075 Sucesso com saúde!

[@beczalapiotr3075]

Muito obrigado 🥰 e ficarei feliz em tê-lo em minha caixa de correio do bate-papo do Google, onde passo muito tempo com meus fãs pessoais, porque ver você me mostra que você é meu fã real e dedicado e eu gostaria de tê-lo lá abaixo é meu e-mail🌹🌹💕

[@tinabywater6662]

Yet another example of cut backs when the title character has to appear in his own clothes.

[@janielarson9641]

Watch the Met Parsifal from 2013.

[@janielarson9641]

Lovely! ❤️ I have a ticket but won’t be able to attend unfortunately. 😢

[@barbarachmielewska]

@Janie Larson. So sorry to hear this. I hope you are going to be O.K.❤ I have my ticket for the 18th.

[@janielarson9641]

@@barbarachmielewska Look forward to reading your comments! ❤️👍

[@barbarachmielewska]

@@janielarson9641 Janie, I loved the whole experience. I came home with my head in the clouds! Piotr's singing was magnificent!!! And I also liked this compact production with its cosmic projections.Very interesting. Now I am listening to this Lohengrin every day as it is still available (until April 15) on "Opera on 3 - Episodes - Available now". All the best to you. ❤️

[@edgarfranceschi8338]

Mr. Beczala looks terrific. We miss the extremely abstract Robert Wilson production ( one of the few times Mr. Wilson's staging routine-and it did become a routine- blended perfectly with the music).

[@barrymorentz5190]

I could not disagree more! I thought Wilson staging was beyond ludicrous and made a travesty of the drama. No wonder they schlepped it out for only two seasons and then it mercifully disappeared.

[@edgarfranceschi8338]

@@barrymorentz5190 Hmm... Try seeing his Aida or his Butterfly! The Met thought of bringing back the Wilson staging instead of creating a new production but the complicated light boxes had rotten in storage. It was-presumably- the most expensive staging the Met had done up to that point in its history( including all the Zeffirelli extravaganzas), even though it had no scenery.

[@deanrantz1112]

Dress rehearsal .. No Swan Okay....But.Where is his Sword /Shield and Armor ?

[@Vaelsung1]

God forbid we get an authentic production as the composer had intended, true to the Grail!

[@deanrantz1112]

@@Vaelsung1 'Business Casual' Lohengrin

[@grr8048]

a pen and a phone, instead of the old styled sword and a shield, in his pocket according to his attire.

[@jaydoggy9043]

I really liked the Parsifal production and this looks visually stunning as well. But I might be a "that guy" here and wonder where the swan is, or how/if it's represented? When they're talking about something that's just not there it's genuinely distracting and pulls from the story.

[@eggboy6926]

when i saw it they projected a giant bird's wing onto the backdrop

[@jaydoggy9043]

@@eggboy6926 Thank you for the reply! I'm personally okay with modernizing or interpreting the text. It's just when someone is *saying* something literal that isn't there that bothers me, unless that's meant for the script itself. Good to know one can see the Swan even if a representation.

[@PariahWagner]

1. What is Lohengrin's only weakness? 2. In the third act, the real reason Telramund went to assassinate Lohengrin? 3. For what reason did Lohengrin have to marry Elsa? 4. When was the duel between Lohengrin and Telramund? 5. If it is said that Lohengrin's victory in the fight is based on "God's judgment", then what is "God's judgment" based on? 6. Why does Ortrud think that Elsa will suffer her own consequences? 7. Lohengrin can refuse anyone's question, but why can't he refuse Elsa? 8. Where does Lohengrin's divine power come from? Where does the power to keep a secret come from? 9. Lohengrin accused Elsa of betrayal because of being bewitched, so what specific aspects of Elsa's bewitching are manifested? 10. What is the only reward that Lohengrin is willing to sacrifice for Elsa?

[@tituslawoffice4778]

His pants aren't even hemmed properly.... With all of the work, and money, going into such a thing one would imagine...

[@filipszyga7394]

Staging looks modern yet interesting. Appears to me more that Green Lohengin from Bayreuth.

[@barbarachmielewska]

@Filip Szyga. Blue Lohengrin from Bayreuth.

[@filipszyga7394]

​@@barbarachmielewska indeed, blue, Herzog von Brabant was green there.

[@barbarachmielewska]

@@filipszyga7394 I loved Beczala's Lohengrin from Bayreuth (but I didn't like the Herzog). And I am going to see this production on the 18th at the Met. I hope I like it, too.

[@Vaelsung1]

The Met has managed to turn Lohengrin into a busboy after closing hours! His singing is ausgezeichnet!

[@jackhamm1745]

Ooo! Look!!! It's the interior of the lair of the Three Eyed Raven! We can see him sitting on his throne surrounded by the Children of the Forest , awaiting the arrival of Brandon Stark and some half-dressed guy in a cheap ill-fitting and awful white shirt stumbles in instead, and ruins the Fantasy tableau. Say it ain't so!

[@carlosmanueldelgadonule2313]

No swan :(

[@sonnyitaliano4158]

Is he tenor or baritone?

[@ER1CwC]

Lyric tenor.

[@sonnyitaliano4158]

@@ER1CwC thanks. He had a little baritonal power there because he darkened his lower voice. It's amazing how the 2 voice types almost eclipse each other in tonal quality and sometimes the range. I'm a Lyric Baritone by the way. We sometimes blend in well with the dramatic Tenors but we know our limits. Haha

[@ER1CwC]

@@sonnyitaliano4158I’m a lyric baritone as well. Lyric baritones and heldentenors are similar, which is why some heldentenors like Melchior start out as lyric baritones. Transitioning can be dangerous if one is actually just a lyric baritone, though! Beczala is firmly a lyric tenor, however. Just one whose timbre has darkened a bit with age. The voice is still light and high.

[@christinewunder18]

Warum singt er so weinerlich?

[@sonnyitaliano4158]

@@ER1CwC cool, Welcome to the Baritone club! I wish there was some kind of annual Baritone convention where us Baritones can meet up. It kinda gets lonely talking to guys that speak tenor tones most of the time. Where I'm from I rarely meet anyone that has our kind of voice type and they say Baritone is the most common. I don't believe so. Most of my competitors that out sing me in Karaoke have those bigger louder taller tenor voices that make me look like an old Volkswagen buggy car on stage. Haha. I love the manliness in the core of my voice and I get hit those Mariah whistles too for a little support with range since it's a skill everyone isn't good at. When we sing those high B4's and A4s it literally sounds and feel like a tenor hitting the Tenor C5. There is a Lyric Baritone on KZbin in one of those short reel videos who can actually sing the Tenor high C in his modal register without any kind of falsetto support. He's amazing.

[@gerontius3]

They did some"magic" with the microphones here. Beczala sounds very good but in the house this isn't going to sound like this - for some bizarre reason the director is having the singer turn his back on the audience as he sings something that should absolutely be sung TOWARD the audience. Everybody knows in a house the size of the Met this is going to diminish the sound of the voice. And there's no swan there anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRrrrrrrrrrr.

[@johnfitzpatrick6544]

What's wrong with a bit of spectacle in Opera? Costume designers seem to be afraid of not being "relevant to a modern audience" I want silver armour!

[@andrzejcelmerzajaczkowski]

Polisch... Sorry, z przyzwoitości, nie tak łatwo daję się namówić na pisanie o Rodakach... To zawsze zalatuje SMRODKIEM I SIUCHTĄ (Sorry, te powyższe dwa moje słowa... są NIEPRZETŁUMACZALNE)... ale Piotrowi, Lohengrinowi BECZAŁA napiszę i dam nazwisko... swoją NIEBOTYCZNĄ PRACOWITOŚCIĄ SWOIM TALENTEM I... SŁOŃCEM JAKIE NOSI Pokonał wiele przeszkód i barier... Piotrze... jak gdzieś... kiedyś... obiecuję Ci... mocno PRZYTULĘ!™... ♥️ Sygnuję Andrzej Celmer Zajączkowski 23 02 2023

[@sterlinglewis5700]

"Wann kommt der nächste Schwan?" For some time now it has become incumbent upon producers to totally disregard the libretto [text] and so here we have the usual situation where what we hear has no relation to what we see. The underlying assumption is that the audience is too stupid to know what it is seeing anyway, so the production team have license to advance whatever polemic they want. If you need to read some self-congratulatory essay in order to 'understand' the opera, then the production has failed. Perhaps it would be too 'elitist' to portray Lohengrin as a Knight? Better a 'regular' 21st Century plebe...

[@djdwoodward]

Lohengrin just rolled out of bed. He forgot his armor, sword and swan. 👎

[@Ben-ku9ss]

I went and saw this yesterday. The music was magnificent. But this was one of the stupidest productions I’ve ever seen in my life. It seems to take place on the moon. And one dramatic device that gets used to death is that the good and bad guys are color-coded by costume (white, green, red = good, neutral bad). The chorus is wearing robes that can open up to all three colors. So the whole show is just the chorus throwing their robes open to different colors and closing them back up again. It’s so ridiculous that I literally put my head in my hand during act three. The review on Parterre compared the chorus to impulsive subway flashers (not their fault, btw… they’re just following awful direction). Go for the music. But be prepared to sigh and roll your eyes at this absurd production.

[@georgesclermont1911]

Can't understand that the producer of the extraordinary Parsifal of 2013 would come up with this dreadful and ugly production. Reviews were not good and I understand why.

[@ransomcoates546]

Ridiculous.