Elijah Moshinsky's productions may never be the last word in postmodern trendiness, but they wear exceptionally well. His staging of Lohengrin was first seen at Covent Garden in 1977 and was revived three times in the 1980s and 1990s. Now it has returned to the Royal Opera House once again, wearing its quarter-century lightly, and powered by some exceptional musical performances.
Some visual details jar a bit - the wigs really do make all the men look as if they are auditioning for a vacancy in Iron Maiden or Metallica - but the directness and power of the drama are still caught. The symbolism of John Napier's intelligently spare sets catches Wagner's curious mixture of paganism and Christianity exactly: crucifixes jostle with totemic symbols, and icon-like images adorn the banners. Yet the king, Heinrich, rules from a throne built on skulls and a straw man is hung from one of the portable crosses.
It is Mark Elder's conducting, though, that binds this revival together. Everything has its place in his dramatic scheme of things, be it the brassy pageantry of the big set pieces or the dark hues of the second-act plotting. The results are thrillingly vivid, and, in a score that relies heavily on rapt, transparent string tone, the ROH orchestra plays wonderfully for him.
If Elder's is easily the best performance in the ROH pit this season, then Waltraud Meier's portrayal of Ortrud is pretty nearly the finest on stage. She compels attention through the sheer concentration of her body language (even through the revelations and explanations of the last scene, when she has nothing to sing until the final few moments), and every line she has to deliver is weighted with precisely the right amount of disdain, fury or false humility. It is a perfectly drawn portrait of a monster.
Elder and Meier are the truly compelling elements, but the rest of the cast is not far behind them. Robert Dean Smith's Lohengrin may not be beautifully sung, but he steadily invests the character with more and more detail, and has the audience hanging on his every word when his identity is finally revealed. Melanie Diener's statuesque Elsa had her moments, but seemed nervous, and will surely improve through the run. Sergei Leiferkus and René Pape reprise their roles from the 1997 revival; Leiferkus's Talramund is a bit of a cartoon villain now, but still imposing, while Pape's Heinrich is noble and steely, every phrase charged with presence. An outstanding, unmissable revival.
· In rep until June 24. Box office: 020-7304 4000.
