Tim Yip Reimagines the Visual World of Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’
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After a 14-year absence, the Metropolitan Opera has brought Wagner’s “Lohengrin” back to the Lincoln Center stage. The new production, directed by François Girard, debuted Sunday, with additional performances slated over the next month. Last staged by the company in 2007, “Lohengrin” remains the Met’s most-performed Wagner opera.
Despite its popularity, the production has not always received positive feedback from critics and audiences. When Robert Wilson’s sparse, light-driven staging opened in 1998, the Met crowd booed the director’s avant-garde take.
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But that was then; Tim Yip, best known for his Oscar-winning set and costume design for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” has now lent his aesthetic vision to Wagner’s story. Yip (who’s also a longtime friend and collaborator of Wilson’s) designed the costumes and sets for the new staging. Originally conceived as a coproduction with the Bolshoi Theater, the opera was first performed in Moscow last year, on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Because of the war and resulting sanctions, all the sets and costumes needed to be rebuilt Stateside — which allowed the team to make changes. Yip notes that while their approach within the Bolshoi production was “more dramatic,” they aimed to make everything feel a little less fantastical in their recreation for The Met.
“The dress, everything is more realistic — like a movie,” says Yip, adding that initial critical response to their immersive staging was positive. The impact of Yip’s contribution to “Lohengrin” arrives early on in the first act, with a distinct visual moment. “It is quite a moment in opera history,” Yip promises.
Although the story is set in 10th-century Antwerp, Girard moved the production into a conceptual post-apocalyptic setting that verges on sci-fi. The glow of a moon and celestial sky hangs over the stage, visible through a portal in the set that appears to lead upward.
“Before, I had an even more abstract set, and later we talked about needing some narrative. So the director suggested we move it into the near future,” says Yip. “Everything is destroyed, and then there are people living in the bunker. You settle into that time, and start the story.”
Yip notes that every design decision prioritized Wagner’s music, and was made in support of the performers onstage. “Every second has to be perfectly matched,” says Yip. “I really care about the volumes of people, the volumes of the style and the scenery, how to mix that with the music.
“We are building the set to help the singer deliver the sound,” he adds. “We’re promoting atmosphere, but the music leads up everything. You see the colors coming from the music; everything comes back to the music.”
The color scheme is driven by saturated reds, greens and whites. While most characters don dramatic cloaks and gowns, the titular lead male performer is dressed in a white button-down and black slacks — underscoring his otherworldly nature. The costumes use color to convey a sense of morality — the antagonist is draped in red, while other characters are in green or white. The ensembles’ cloaks change colors throughout the show, through the use of magnets, to convey shifting allegiance to different characters.
“The Wagner philosophy of mythology is quite abstract. They don’t have a [clearly defined] what is right, what is wrong,” says Yip. “We want to share this idea of uncertainty, to make people think about the human situation.”
Yip, who was born in Hong Kong and is currently based in London, is headed to Minneapolis after the debut of “Lohengrin” for an upcoming exhibition with the Minneapolis Institute of Art opening on March 4. “Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes” features 150 ancient bronzes installed with immersive backdrops designed by Yip. He also has a Broadway project on the horizon, yet to be announced, and continues to work on his “Love Infinity” art film series.
Launch Gallery: Backstage with Costume Designer Tim Yip at The Met Opera
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