Piotr Beczałas Lohengrin-Triumph in Baden-Baden

Die diesjährigen Osterfestspiele im Festspielhaus Baden-Baden standen im Zeichen einer Neuproduktion von Wagners Lohengrin — dirigiert von Joana Mallwitz mit dem Mahler Chamber Orchestra, inszeniert von Johannes Erath. Vor vollen Häusern gespielt, wurde die Produktion rasch zu einem der meistdiskutierten Ereignisse des Festivals.

In ihrem Zentrum stand Piotr Beczała in der Titelpartie mit einer Leistung, die bei Publikum und Kritik außergewöhnliche Anerkennung fand. Sein Lohengrin erwies sich als das prägende Element der Produktion und wurde weithin für musikalische Verfeinerung, stimmliche Kontrolle und interpretatorische Tiefe gerühmt.

Statt auf bloße stimmliche Wucht zu setzen, formte Beczała die Partie über Linie, Legato und Präzision und schuf ein Porträt von seltener Noblesse. Sein leuchtender Ton, die natürliche Phrasierung und die mühelose Tragfähigkeit ließen ihn den Anforderungen der Rolle gerecht werden, ohne je an Klarheit und Eleganz einzubüßen.

Besondere Aufmerksamkeit galt der Gralserzählung im dritten Akt, wo sein Einsatz des Pianissimo und seine dynamische Kontrolle Momente von auffallender Intensität schufen. Diese Passagen wurden zum Höhepunkt des Abends und zeigten technische Meisterschaft ebenso wie ein tiefes Verständnis von Wagners Tonsprache.

Mit starker musikalischer Leitung und einer überzeugenden Zentralfigur galt Lohengrin in Baden-Baden weithin als großer Erfolg. In seinem Herzen stand Piotr Beczała — ein Triumph, der auf der Bühne ebenso nachhallte wie in der internationalen Presse.

Pressestimmen (englische Übersetzung)

Das kritische Echo war umfangreich und begeistert. Die folgenden Auszüge geben die Kritiken in englischer Übersetzung wieder.

„Timeless Piotr Beczała sings the title role — soft, gentle, not of this world…“ – DIE WELT

„The title role, after all, was cast with the Polish tenor Piotr Beczała, who most recently, in 2025 at the Bayreuth Festival, sent audiences into ecstasy in this role and who has now, in Baden-Baden as well, demonstrated that he is currently the leading singer for this role — indeed, that he is setting a milestone in Wagner singing here altogether. His portrayal is marked by legendary presence and radiance, but above all he sings with a fullness and beauty of tone, as well as with a seemingly effortless vocality, that inspires amazement bar by bar.“ – Die Rheinpfalz

„Piotr Beczała is Lohengrin and sings one to their knees — a tenor of world class.“ – Der Opernfreund

„Piotr Beczała sings Lohengrin with a luminous tenor, a gentle vocal colouring, and cantabile melodic phrasing. He manages his vocal resources well, so that he still has sufficient reserves for the Grail narration in the final act.“ – Kulturjoker

„It was, as expected, Piotr Beczała who stood out above the rest, having long since established himself in Bayreuth (…) as one of the era’s Lohengrin interpreters. With his “white swan feather mantle,” he is here the radiant tenor knight without fear or reproach.“ – Opern.News

„At the centre of the evening, however, stood Piotr Beczała — and in a way that renders any hasty superlative rhetoric unnecessary, because the performance itself already says everything. What he shaped out of the title role was singing of extraordinary nobility, technical integrity, and stylistic penetration. From the very first entry, there was that rare quality of tone that does not merely sound, but transforms the character of the space itself. This voice does not step forward — it appears. It possesses no aggressive dominance, no outward heroism, and derives precisely from this its eminent authority. For Beczała’s Lohengrin is founded on something that has become rare in Wagner singing: complete mastery of the vocal line (…) His timbre possessed beauty, but not mere pleasantness; his upper register had brilliance, but no aggressive sharpness; his phrasing was softly bound without becoming formless. The voice always remained in a noble, focused flow.“ – Wochenblatt Reporter

„At present, one can hardly find anyone better for the title role than Piotr Beczała. His still lyrically slender, yet powerful tenor convinces with warmth in the sound and a wonderfully shaped vocal line. The demanding upward interval leaps he negotiates elegantly with the head voice.“ – Badische Zeitung

„Piotr Beczała, probably still the best Lohengrin at present, sings the title role with compelling perfection and clarity of text. In his Grail narration in the third act, he makes the miracle of the strength-giving dove doubly admirable through a sudden pianissimo for the bird of peace.“ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

„Ultimately, Piotr Beczała as Lohengrin proves to be a lyrical tenor of original strength, just as one could wish for him here: without any affected exaggeration, but with all the more intelligent, professional fine control of the vocal means.“ – Concerti.de

„Piotr Beczała sings Lohengrin with a timbre and a radiance that quite literally fill the large hall with delight. He reaches the high point in the Grail narration: at the word “dove,” he suddenly breaks into a pianissimo — and then swells again toward the “miraculous power,” as if the heavens were opening. This is how clarity of text becomes art. Why Mallwitz made him a condition for this production, he demonstrates impressively.“ – Badische Neueste Nachrichten (BNN)

„Piotr Beczała possesses all these qualities sixfold. His magnificent voice — a silver wrapped in velvet — his high notes could well secure him the envy of all tenors. And who takes care that all of this is preserved? In case of doubt, certainly his wife, who is also a singer. He has not only preserved it, but further developed it, in order to mature from a lirico-spinto into a heldentenor. And all of this could be experienced in the Festspielhaus and carried the audience away with enthusiasm. His Grail narration in the third act was a dream and went straight to the heart with its soft legato arcs. So they do still exist: the tenors who allow the voice to mature — and then are simply not to be surpassed.“ – goodnews4.de