Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Dmitry Korchak (Lohengrin)

Lohengrin

Jennifer Holloway (Elsa) and Ekaterina Gubanova (Ortrud)

Tómas Tómasson (Telramund) and Ekaterina Gubanova (Ortrud)

Lohengrin

By Pia Maltri, 30 November 2025

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“a pastiche, which doesn’t add to the work, but detracts from it”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 27 November 2025

Wagner, Lohengrin

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Michele Mariotti, Conductor

Damiano Michieletto, Director

Paolo Fantin, Set Designer

Carla Teti, Costume Designer

Alessandro Carletti, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Clive Bayley, Heinrich der Vogler

Dmitry Korchak, Lohengrin

Jennifer Holloway, Elsa von Brabant

Ekaterina Gubanova, Ortrud

Tómas Tómasson, Friedrich von Telramund

Andrei Bondarenko, The King's Herald

Alejo Alvarez Castillo, 1st Nobleman of Brabant

Dayu Xu, 2nd Nobleman of Brabant

Guangwei Yao, 3rd Nobleman of Brabant

Jiacheng Fan, 4th Nobleman of Brabant

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Pia Maltri, 1st March

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Peter Sellars directs Italian debut of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater

Pia Maltri, 11th October

This co-production, previously seen in San Francisco, is more of a semi-staging, convinces thanks to committed performances from a cast led by Fleur Barron.

****1

More reviews...

Pia Maltri

Pia first fell head over heels for opera when she was a teenager by listening to recordings of some of the great voices of the past: Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus. She holds a degree in Italian Literature and she lives in Rome.

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to the Opera di Roma