Opera Scotland

Lecture on Liszt and Lohengrin 2011Wagner Society of Scotland

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a lecture by Dr David Trippett

The intriguing relationship between Liszt and Wagner crystallized around the premiere of Lohengrin in 1830. Wagner was abroad, forcibly exiled at the time.; Liszt had all the resources of the Weimar Court Theatre at his disposal, and took an unprecendented 118 rehearsals to prepare the new opera. but in the end Wagner complained that the performers had been "lazy and slovenly". Two important documents that tell us more about this occasion and Liszt's work on Lohengrin are his conducting score, and his extended essay on the opera. This talk will explore excerpts from them both as well as some of the piano transcriptions Liszt made of Wagner's Romantic operas.