DownWithTyranny!: Sunday Classics: Karl Ridderbusch as the King in "Lohengrin" -- this is what's called "shouting"???

ELSA has appeared in a very simple white garment and overwhelmed the assembled nobles with the purity and innocence of her bearing. Now KING HEINRICH tries to get, well, anything at all out of her regarding the disappearance of her little brother Gottfired, which she is accused of being responsible for.

KING HEINRICH: Are you she, Elsa of Brabant?
[ELSA nods her head affirmatively.]
Do you recognize me as your judge?
[ELSA turns her head toward the KING, looks him in the eye, and then affirms with a trust-filled gesture.]
Then I ask you further:
Is the charge known to you,
which has been brought so weightily against you?
[ELSA glances at TELRAMUND and ORTRUD, shudders, bows her head sadly, and affirms.]
What do you have to say against the charge?
[ELSA through a gesture: "Nothing!"]
So you acknowledge your guilt?
ELSA [staring sadly for a long time around her]: My poor brother!
ALL THE MEN: How wondrous! What strange behavior!
KING HEINRICH: Speak, Elsa, what do you have to confide to me?

by Ken

Can't somebody get that damned Ridderbusch fellow to stop ferchrissakes shouting? (This is a very tiny joke, which I'll explain in a moment.)

This two-minute-plus extract comes from what is still my favorite Lohengrin recording, the 1971 DG studio version conducted by Sunday Classics stalwart Rafael Kubelik. In it we hear Karl Ridderbusch in his matchless prime as King Heinrich and Gundula Janowitz singing Elsa's single line, one of the most haunting lines in opera, "Mein armer Bruder. (I had thought of doing a collage of maybe ten singers singing it, but do you have any idea how much time editing such a thing would have taken?) If there are two more beautiful, riveting minutes of music anywhere in the recorded annals, I don't know what they are.

Since we last dipped into Lohengrin, this past February in the "Remembering Eugen Jochum" posts that included excerpts from his 1954 Bayreuth performance, I've gotten hold of a CD edition of the Kubelik-DG recording, which I had only on LP and open-reel tape, and my admiration is if anything greater than ever. I think the Act I Prelude is an excellent example.

WAGNER: Lohengrin: Prelude to Act I

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG, recorded April 1971

We've heard some beautiful performances of the Lohengrin Prelude. In that February post, for example, we heard one by Sir Adrian Boult. But I'm not sure I've ever heard a fuller, more pulsing-with-life one than Kubelik's. And this is true of the Lohengrin performance as a whole. I'm not sure people generally appreciate just how difficult an opera this is to make musical and dramatic sense of, and Kubelik's performance has a riveting continuity I've never heard matched in a lifetime that has included a lot of Lohengrin performances. (Curiously, Kubelik's 1967 Bavarian Radio broadcast Meistersinger, which acquired a legend before anyone without archival access was able to hear it, and which to my ears turns out to be crashingly ordinary, is praised to the skies by the online cognoscenti.)

IT WAS, IN FACT, A BIZARRE ONLINE REVIEW OF THIS
RECORDING THAT TRIGGERED THIS SERIES OF POSTS

In this supposedly erudite review (yes, I know, it serves me right for reading such stuff), the disappointed reviewer ticks off, one by one, how the promising-looking cast (which admittedly has a problem in its Ortrud, Gwyneth Jones, though I've heard worse) proves ho-hum. And he tears in particular into, of all people, Karl Ridderbusch -- for "shouting"!

Shouting??? (Suggested exercise: Relisten to the above clip.)

I would argue, have in fact frequently argued, that Ridderbusch here and in his Daland in DG's live Bayreuth Flying Dutchman (also here) recorded just a few months later gives a textbook-quality demonstration of how a voice fully equipped in range, tonal beauty, and control of dynamics and vocal colors can create a dramatic scene in Wagner, or really any writing.

I might not have made a point of this except for my dawning suspicion that, at a time when voices like the early-career Ridderbusch's are so rare in all vocal categories, to some ears actual singing, the kind that includes full-voiced tone production under nuanced control, has come to be regarded as "shouting," while what's thought of as singing has come to be, well, the vocal torture routinely inflicted on us. (I might add that vocal deformities like strained-tone wailing, toneless roaring, and outright barking have long been considered "stylish" singing in Wagner. I can't imagine for a moment that the composer had any such thing in mind.)

LET'S START WITH THE KING'S ACT I INVOCATION

In Friday night's preview we heard King Heinrich's potentially stupendous prayer as he initiates the trial-by-combat between Elsa's accuser, Friedrich von Telramund, and her miraculously appeared but unknown champion, as sung by a surprisingly so-so René Pape, a decidedly unfortunate Kurt Böhme, and our so-far-champion King, Franz Crass. I thought we'd start by hearing a fuller version of that scene from the Pape-Barenboim and Crass-Sawallisch performances. (We really don't want to hear more of Kurt Böhme, do we?)

WAGNER: Lohengrin: Act I: King Heinrich, "So tretet vor zu drei für jeden Kämpfer" ("So step forward three for each combatant") . . . Royal Herald, "Nun höret mich und achtet wohl" ("Now hear me and listen carefully") . . . King Heinrich, "Mein Herr und Gott" ("My Lord and God")

KING HEINRICH: So step forward, three for each combatant,
and measure off the battle circle!
[Three Saxons nobles come forward for LOHENGRIN, three Brabantians for TELRAUMND; they solemnly pace out the fighting area, marking off a full circle with their spears.]
HERALD [standing in the middle of the circle]:
Now hear me and listen carefully:
let no man disturb this fight!
Keep away from the battle circle,
for if anyone disrespects the law of peace,
if freeman, he shall pay with his hand,
if serf, he shall pay with his head!
ALL THE MEN: If freeman, he shall pay with his hand,
if serf, he shall pay with his head!
ROYAL HERALD [to LOHENGRIN and TELRAMUND]:
Hear ye likewise, combatants to be judged!
Faithfully respect the law of battle!
Let not the deceit and cunning of magic
spoil the nature of the ordeal!
God will pass rightful judgment,
so trust in Him, not in your own strength!
LOHENGRIN and TELRAMUND [standing opposite each other, outside the circle]:
God will pass rightful judgement on me,
so I shall trust in Him, not in my own strength!
KING HEINRICH [proceeding to the middle with great ceremony]: My Lord and God, I call upon you
[Everyone bares their head in deepest reverence]
to be present at this fight!
Proclaim through the sword's victory a verdict
that clearly shows what is deceit and what is truth!
May he who is innocent fight with the arm of a hero,
and may he who is false be sapped of strength!
So help us God in this hour,
for our wisdom is but folly!
ELSA and LOHENGRIN:
You will now make known your true judgment,
my Lord and God, thus do I not hesitate!
TELRAMUND: I faithfully come before you to receive judgment!
Dear Lord, abandon not my honor!
ORTRUD: I rely on his strength.
Wherever he fights, it brings him victory!
ALL THE MEN: Give to the innocent's arm the hero's strength,
and take away the strength from the liar.
Make known your true judgment,
O Lord our God, do not hesitate!
WOMEN: Lord my God, give him your blessing!
[Everyone returns to their places, rapt in solemn attention.]

René Pape (bs), King Heinrich; Roman Trekel (b), Royal Herald; Peter Seiffert (t), Lohengrin; Falk Struckmann (b), Friedrich von Telramund; Emily Magee (s), Elsa; Deborah Polaski (s), Ortrud; Berlin State Opera Chorus, Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded January 1998

Franz Crass (bs), King Heinrich; Tom Krause (b), Royal Herald; Jess Thomas (t), Lohengrin; Ramón Vinay (b), Friedrich von Telramund; Anja Silja (s), Elsa von Brabant; Astrid Varnay (s), Ortrud; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. Philips, recorded live, July 1962

Now we're going to hear the artistically plausible but vocally dry and hardly pleasurable Josef Greindl followed by Gottlob Frick, still enjoyable though not in as solid voice as we heard him as Daland in The Flying Dutchman and Landgraf Hermann in Tannhäuser.

Josef Greindl (bs), King Heinrich; Hans Braun (b), Royal Herald; Wolfgang Windgassen (t), Lohengrin; Hermann Uhde (bs-b), Friedrich von Telramund; Eleanor Steber (s), Elsa; Astrid Varnay (s), Orturd; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth, cond. Decca, recorded live, 1953

Gottlob Frick (bs), King Heinrich; Otto Wiener (b), Royal Herald; Jess Thomas (t), Lohengrin; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Friedrich von Telramund; Elisabeth Grümmer (s), Elsa von Brabant; Christa Ludwig (ms), Ortrud; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded Dec. 1962-Jan. 1963 and Apr. 1963

Finally, here's the King we've been waiting to hear, from the 1971-model Karl Ridderbusch, who does everything, with thundering power as well as striking beauty at the top and the ability to scale the voice down gorgeously. Remembering how much Wagner cherished the singing quality of Italian opera, I find it hard to imagine that this isn't what he had in mind. (Somehow "the composer's intention" never seems to come into play in matters like this.)

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), King Heinrich; Gerd Nienstedt (bs-b), Royal Herald); James King (t), Lohengrin; Thomas Stewart (b), Friedrich von Telramund; Gundula Janowitz (s), Elsa von Brabant; Gwyneth Jones (s), Ortrud; Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG, recorded April 1971

IN FRIDAY'S PREVIEW WE ALSO HEARD THE
KING'S OTHER GREAT SOLO OPPORTUNITY

Which would be his outpouring of thanks to the Brabantine nobles at the start of the opera's final scene. We heard René Pape sing it decently enough -- some of it pretty good, some of it not so good, none of it really special -- and again we heard Franz Crass knock it out of the park.

We're going to hear it again now, starting with a couple of reasonable but not exactly tingling alternatives: first Josef Greindl in very Greindl-ish form, then Gottlob Frick in pretty good form (better than one would have expected from the Act I prayer) but still not vocally taut enough to sweep at least this listener away.

Lohengrin: Act III, Scene 2, Men, "Heil, König Heinrich!" ("Hail, King Heinrich!") . . . The King, "Habt Dank, ihr Lieben von Brabant!" ("Have thanks, dear men of Brabant!")

The plain by the Scheldt, as in Act I. Dawn gradually gives way to full daylight. A count with his retinue of troops appears right foreground, dismounts from his horse and hands it to a serf. Two pages bring him his shield and spear. He plants his standard in the ground and his troops assemble round it. As a second count appears in the field, trumpets are heard announcing the arrival of a third. A third count appears with his troops. They too assemble round their standard; the counts and nobles greet one another before examining and praising their arms etc. A fourth count appears with his retinue from the right and positions himself middle background. When the KING's trumpets are heard from the left, everyone hurries to assemble round the standards. The KING with his Saxon levy enters from the left.

ALL THE MEN [as the king arrives under the oak]:
Hail, King Heinrich!
King Heinrich, hail!
THE KING [standing under the oak]:
Have thanks, dear men of Brabant!
How my heart shall swell with pride
if on every acre of German soil I find
such mighteous throngs of troops!
Let the realm's enemy now approach,
we will meet him with courage:
from the barren wastes of the East
he shall never dare attack again!
For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the realm's might be proved!
ALL THE MEN: For German soil the German sword!
Thus shall the realm's might be proved!

Josef Greindl (bs), King Heinrich; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth, cond. Decca, recorded live, 1953

Gottlob Frick (bs), King Heinrich; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded Dec. 1962-Jan. 1963 and Apr. 1963

Now here's Ridderbusch in 1971, once again doing just about everything we could hope for from a King Heinrich.

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), King Heinrich; Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG, recorded April 1971

The reason I stress the 1971 date for Ridderbusch in the Kubelik-DG recording is that the glorious sheen of the voice didn't last. When he rerecorded the King with Herbert von Karajan for EMI in 1975-76, as he moved deeper into his 40s (he was born in 1932), the voice while still recognizable had lost its distinctive tonal glow and its range of colors. It may be a coincidence that by this time he was making something of a signature role of the Heldenbariton Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger. (His 1975 Bayreuth Sachs was recorded live by Philips, and it's not bad, but in Karajan's 1970 EMI Meistersinger he had sung the daylights out of the true-bass role of Pogner, almost reason enough to own this generally underwhelming recording.)

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), King Heinrich; Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. EMI, recorded 1975-76, 1981

I can't spell out a cause-and-effect relationship. Did the higher lie of a role Sachs take its toll on the voice? Or was the voice maybe changing anyway? Regardless, I don't think I would choose this "Habt Dank, ihr Lieben von Brabant" -- or this King Heinrich -- over Greindl's or Frick's.

ALL THE MORE REASON, I THINK, TO CHERISH
WHAT RIDDERBUSCH DID IN THAT EARLIER DECADE

In the February Lohengrin-related post we heard the chunk of Act I in which King Heinrich attempts to get Elsa's side of the story (this excerpt culminates in the "dialogue" between the King and Elsa which we heard at the top of this post), as sung by the 1954-vintage (i.e., youngish) Theo Adam (with the similarly younger-sounding Birgit Nilsson in Elsa's memorable single line) and the 1991-92-vintage (i.e., no longer so young) Kurt Moll (with Cheryl Studer). Today we're going to hear a fuller version of the scene, starting again with Greindl and Frick -- again, respectable enough in their quite different ways, but not something you'd seek out for repeated listening.

WAGNER: Lohengrin: Act I, The King Summons Elsa -- King Heinrich, "Ruft die Beklagte her" ("Call for the accused")

KING HEINRICH: Call for the accused!
Let the trial begin!
God grant me wisdom!
HERALD [proceeding solemnly to the middle]: Shall the trial by might and right be held?
KING HEINRICH [hanging his shield on the oak tree with great ceremony]: May I remain unprotected by this shield
until I have judged strictly and compassionately.
ALL THE MEN [drawing their swords, which the Saxons and Thuringians plunge in the ground in front of them, and the Brabantines lay down flat]: May the sword not return to the scabbard
until it sees justice done through judgment!
HERALD: Where the King's shield hangs,
there shall you now see justice done through judgment!
Thus do I call loudly and clearly:
Elsa, appear in this place!
[ELSA appears in a very simple white garment; she lingers awhile in the background, then steps slowly and with a great sense of shame to the middle of the foreground; women very simply dressed in white follow her, but they remain for now in the background at the extreme border of the trial circle.]
THE MEN: Behold! Behold! The harshly accused approaches.
Ha! How light and pure she appears!
The one who dared to accuse so seriously,
how sure he must be of her guilt.
KING HEINRICH: Are you she, Elsa of Brabant?
[ELSA nods her head affirmatively.]
Do you recognize me as your judge?
[ELSA turns her head toward the KING, looks him in the eye, and then affirms with a trust-filled gesture.]
Then I ask you further:
Is the charge known to you,
which has been brought so weightily aginst you?
[ELSA glances at FRIEDRICH and ORTRUD, shudders, bows her head sadly, and affirms.]
What do you have to say against the charge?
[ELSA through a gesture: "Nothing!"]
So you acknowledge your guilt?
ELSA [staring sadly for a long time around her]: My poor brother!
ALL THE MEN: How wondrous! What strange behavior!
KING HEINRICH: Speak, Elsa, what do you have to confide to me?

Josef Greindl (bs), King Heinrich; Hans Braun (b), Royal Herald; Eleanor Steber (s), Elsa von Brabant; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth, cond. Decca, recorded live, 1953

Gottlob Frick (bs), King Heinrich; Otto Wiener (b), Royal Herald; Elisabeth Grümmer (s), Elsa von Brabant; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded Dec. 1962-Jan. 1963 and Apr. 1963

Now we hear the cream of our crop and hear how a genuinely beautiful- as well as powerful-voiced King can communicate when rendererd helpless by Elsa's innocence and helplessness -- first Crass (we should be glad to be hearing just this one line of Anja Silja's Elsa), then Ridderbusch-1971 (with Gundula Janowitz).

Franz Crass (bs), King Heinrich; Tom Krause (b), Royal Herald; Anja Silja (s), Elsa von Brabant; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. Philips, recorded live, July 1962

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), King Heinrich; Gerd Nienstedt (bs-b), Royal Herald; Gundula Janowitz (s), Elsa von Brabant; Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG, recorded April 1971