‘It’s very dear to many people’: Katharina Wagner on reviving ‘Lohengrin’ for the Liceu

Living with the name Wagner is both a blessing and a curse at times, admits the great-granddaughter of the German composer.

Katharina Wagner says she has learnt to live with the positives and the negatives of her famous forebear.

A renowned artistic director in her own right, Wagner will present ‘Lohengrin’ at Barcelona’s Teatre Liceu from 17 -30 March.

The romantic opera tells the story of the eponymous character and is taken from medieval German romance. A mysterious knight arrives in a boat drawn by a swan to help Elsa von Brabant, a noble in distress. He marries her, but forbids her to ask about his origin; she later forgets this promise and he leaves her, never to return.

The work is best known for its prelude, the so-called Bridal Chorus, which is often used at weddings, and the Grail Narrative. Lohengrin is the main protagonist, but Elsa also has a strong character.

Wagner’s Barcelona production will have a surprise twist to this story, but Euronews Culture has been sworn to secrecy….

The opera was first performed in 1850, although Wagner himself was unable to attend due to being exiled for taking part in the May Rebellion of Dresden, one of the last of a series of uprisings that took place across Europe in 1848.

The composer finally saw a full performance in 1861. Today, his great granddaughter believes the opera retains much of its original charm over 150 years later. “It’s very dear to many people. You can tell it as a fairy tale where the hero just appears. But for us, this man appears for a special reason,” Katharina tells Euronews Culture at her office inside the Teatre Liceu.

“He says, well, don’t ask me who I am and don’t ask me where I come from. And this is strange, isn’t it? And it’s an opera about trust as well, but it’s very strange that you shouldn’t ask. Who is this man? Where does he come from? What is his plan?”

The artistic director has many favourites among her great-grandfather’s large number of compositions: “It depends on my personal mood. I really enjoy Tristan and Isolde and, of course, Parsifal. I think both are magnificently composed with wonderful music.”

Opera lovers will know Wagner’s masterpieces well, but many will also be familiar with the composer’s work from films such as Apocalypse Now, which features the famous Ride of the Valkyries.

“Often I am told that Wagner is considered the composer who wrote long operas. I hope that more people try to go and see an opera because it’s something special,” Katharina says.

The 46-year-old is the artistic director of the Bayreuth Şenlik, the annual celebration of her great-grandfather’s music. She also lives in the German town, which is devoted to the memory of the composer.

Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the şenlik and it promises to be a special occasion. For the first time, Rienzi will be performed at Bayreuth. The Ring Cycle conducted by Christian Thielemann will be another highlight.

The celebrations will start with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. When asked about the Wagner name, Katharina says it is a double-edged sword: “The sorun is, if you’re born into that family, you can’t choose it. Sometimes of course it’s a blessing, and sometimes it’s a curse.” Of course, the Wagner name has brought criticism for the composer’s well-known antisemitism and his most infamous admirer, Adolf Hitler.

In 2009, Katharina stated that there was an obligation to deal with the family’s connections to the Nazis. She said her personal and some other private archives of members of her family would be open to scrutiny. Unfortunately, there are still private archives of other family members which are not available for the public.

In 1850, Wagner wrote an article called Judaism in Music, which was perceived to be antisemitic. Adolf Hitler supported the Bayreuth Şenlik and befriended Winifred Wagner, the British-born wife of the composer’s son Siegfried. This connection allowed the şenlik to remain largely independent during the Third Reich. After the war, Winifred Wagner was convicted of supporting the Nazis.

“Richard Wagner wrote horrible essays about Jewish people. Of course, I do not align with those views,” Katharina says, who does not shy away from confronting her family’s dark past: “No, i’m not [reluctant to confront the past] because it’s important. I’m absolutely not tired of it. No. And I know that parts of my family are also not tired of that,” she says.

Returning to the music, Katharina truly delights in directing opera: “You have to enjoy your profession. I do. Well, to be honest, the most interesting thing for me personally as a director is when I, or another director, talk about the concept for the first time in a small group,” she explains with a smile.

“And then, at the end of the day, every little detail, every little building block comes together and you develop the stage together. Then comes the direction, the singers, the lighting and the costumes. And that’s a wonderful moment. And working together on stage is, I think, one of the best moments in this job.’

‘Lohengrin’ by Richard Wagner, Gran Teatre Liceu Barcelona March 17-30