David Alden’s 2018 production of Wagner’s Lohengrin served as a powerful warning of the dangers of an embattled society putting its trust in a charismatic leader. The revival, directed by Peter Relton, delivers the goods once again, this time in conjunction with a confidently empathetic reading by Jakub Hrusa in the pit.
Paul Steinberg’s set updates the action from 10th-century Antwerp to an unspecified early 20th-century central European state, under military occupation and teetering on the brink of implosion. The near-contemporary background brings into focus the ominous allure of a messianic figure embraced as a leader by a weak king (the admirable Gabor Bretz) and desperate populace alike.
