In recent years, recorded Wagner from Munich has been the province of Bernard Haitink and Wolfgang Sawallisch: indeed, it was Sawallisch who conducted the Meistersinger in which Ben Heppner made his Wagner debut on disc (EMI, 8/94). Reviewing that issue, AB referred to Heppner's ''reliable, stout-hearted singing, which combines the lyrical with the heroic'': but AB also implied that, when it comes to characterization, Heppner does not quite equal more seasoned artists, especially in live performance. The same broad conclusion arises with this Lohengrin. It is powerful and moving in some respects, disappointing in others.
Sir Colin Davis is a past master of the art of giving a strong theatrical charge to studio recordings, and his approach here (incredibly, his first Wagner opera on disc) is a model of sensitive phrasing and well-sprung rhythm. Tempos are flexible, avoiding extremes: where Claudio Abbado or Peter Schneider press on or hold back (not in the same places!) Davis prefers a relatively even flow. As a result, the intimacy and the excitement of the drama are both keenly felt, but other aspects of the recording mean that they have a less consistent impact than they might.
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra are an efficient, finely integrated ensemble, but their contribution on this occasion is not as positive as it could be, with a balance that does not allow the strings to provide a sufficiently solid foundation. There is greater sonorous weight, and greater clarity of detail, with Abbado's VPO and Schneider's Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, to go no further back in the list of rival versions. Nor does the RCA production team allow the chorus the sheer spread of sound that makes the opera's processional episodes so thrilling in other recordings. Everything seems calculated to remind us that Lohengrin is a solo singers' opera, yet RCA's team of soloists is an uneven one.
Ben Heppner himself is a major asset. He would probably be more imposing in a stage performance, and there are a few passages of rather bland vocalization, but there is also passion and eloquence in abundance. Heppner remains fresher-voiced throughout than his rivals in recorded stage performances, including the admirable Paul Frey (Schneider), and he is more youthfully ardent and purer-toned than Siegfried Jerusalem (Abbado), powerfully heroic though that reading is. Even if a stronger sense of Lohengrin's complex and tortured character emerges from Fritz Volker (Heger), Wolfgang Windgassen (Keilberth), Jess Thomas (Kempe, and also Sawallisch – Philips, 7/76, nla), or Rene Kollo (Karajan), Heppner's is in many ways a truthful and touching account. RCA are also fortunate to have Bryn Terfel as an outstandingly sonorous Herald: firing on all cylinders, Terfel sounds as if he could easily have sung Telramund and King Henry as well.
Sergei Leiferkus is perfectly adequate as Telramund, and so is Jan-Hendrik Rootering as the King, but neither has the special vocal authority to make these roles tell as strongly as they can, and Leiferkus, in particular, fails to rise to the formidable challenges laid down by such imposing predecessors in the role as Uhde (Keilberth) and Fischer-Dieskau (Kempe). I was nevertheless most disappointed with Sharon Sweet as Elsa and Eva Marton as Ortrud, neither of whom sounds happy with her assignment here. Sweet has recently won praise for her Agathe in the RCA Freischutz (1/95), and the quieter passages of Elsa's role are beautifully shaped. However, the more dramatic episodes are less steadily sung, Sweet's tone approaching an Ortrud-like shrillness in places. Even so, Sweet is never as shrill or unsteady as the Ortrud herself. No one expects vocal refinement in this role, but comparisons with the very different performances of Astrid Varnay (Keilberth and Sawallisch), Gabriele Schnaut (Schneider) and Waltraud Meier (Abbado) demonstrate how vital it is that a firm line is sustained in the great outbursts. Sadly, that is not to be heard here.
Collectors can currently sample a wide range of Lohengrin recordings, from the outstanding historical versions under Heger and Keilberth to Schneider's notably expressive Bayreuth performance and the two studio versions with the VPO – Abbado's and Solti's led by the striking team of Domingo and Norman. The best features of this new account do not fall seriously short of the competition, but it is a pity that there are not more of them.'