Modern and mythological perspectives converge as the New National Theatre Tokyo's Opera Division looks to its past to envision the future. From June 1-16, German-Japanese director Matthias von Stegmann guides this new vision of Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin," last produced at NNTT in 1997, when the composer's grandson Wolfgang Wagner directed for NNTT Opera's inaugural season.
"Lohengrin" weeps with German medieval pageantry. The curtain opens on betrayal and subterfuge: Unjustly accused of murdering her own brother, the heir to Brabant, the young Elsa despairs until her prayers are answered and a knight magically appears to save her from her accusers, Count Telramund and his wife, the sorceress Ortrud. The mysterious knight betroths himself to Elsa and vows to defend her, requesting only that she never asks his name or origin.
Peter Schneider, former principal conductor at the Bavarian State Opera and renowned maestro in German opera, will conduct. Esteemed headliners Klaus Florian Vogt and Ricarda Merbeth take the lead roles in this romantic, three act drama, with Gerd Grochowski as Telramund and Susanne Resmark as the villainous Ortrud. Sets, light installations, and costumes by one of Europe's best known stage designers, who goes by the name "rosalie," promise exciting innovations. The production is sung in German with Japanese subtitles.