Lohengrin Furtwängler Bayreuth Highlights 1936. Hitler wept over this Lohengrin.
Franz Völker Maria Müller Margarete Klose Josef Von Manowarda
Act III Prelude
Act III Treulich geführt ziehet dahin
Act III Das süse Lied verhalt
Act III Heil König Heinrich!
Act III Habt Dank, ihr Lieben von Brabant!
Act III In fernem Land
Act III Mein lieber Schwan
Act III Fahr’ heim, du stolzer Helde!
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung gushed “This new Bayreuth Lohengrin is in truth the ‘unique and indivisible miracle’ which Liszt recognized at its Weimar premiere. No praise is exaggerated .… Wagner’s deepest intent is here for the very first time reality.” Hitler was moved to tears by the performance and loved it so much he went twice to see it. Hitler’s enthusiasm moved him to offer it to Covent Garden for the pleasure of Edward VIII in honor of his coronation. But Edward found opera boring and declined.
Furtwängler’s conducting here has a frenetic quality not heard in his later recordings. Karl Böhm also was a speed demon during the early glory days of the Reich, but he became stodgy later in life. Furtwängler never lost his magnificence in spite of slowing down.
Franz Völker Maria Müller Margarete Klose Josef Von Manowarda