Perhaps the most accessible of all Wagnerian operas, Lohengrin has delighted generations of listeners since its premiere at Weimar in 1850. A remarkable composite of intense drama and elaborate choral writing, the magical tale of the Swan-Knight is suffused with an ethereal purity of tone. Moreover, the opera is replete with memorable music: the enduringly popular preludes to Acts I and III, the "Swan music," and the immortal Bridal March, among other favorite themes.

Now this glorious master...