This »Lohengrin« has nothing to do with Richard Wagner: Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino wrote a chamber opera with the same title in the early 1980s, based on a text by the Symbolist poet Jules Laforgue from the year 1887. At the forefront is the character Elsa, who, having been abandoned by Lohengrin, reflects on the past – be it real or just a figment of her imagination. Yearning and hope are the driving forces behind Elsa’s past memories and her present: the story only takes place inside her mind. Michael Sturminger, one of Austria’s best-known opera producers and authors, puts on this reduced and intense work with the soprano Sarah Maria Sun in the main role. read less