Wagner's Mastersinger, Hitler's Siegfried: The Life and Times of Max Lorenz

Max Lorenz (1901-75) was a great Wagnerian heldentenor in Nazi-era Germany—a favorite of Hitler and many of his top lieutenants. Lorenz also happened to be a homosexual with a Jewish wife (when Lorenz was brought up on charges for a dalliance with a young man, the highest authorities intervened to block the prosecution, and when the SS tried to arrest his wife and mother-in-law, Hermann Goering himself gave the order to desist). As Eric Schulz and Claus Wischmann's documentary makes clear, however, Lorenz was first and foremost an extraordinary actor-singer who practically owned the role of Siegfried in the 1930s. Combining extensive archival stills and footage together with recordings of Lorenz in his prime and excerpts from a late-in-life interview, Wagner's Mastersinger presents a remarkably thorough and insightful portrait of the life and career of Lorenz, peppered with appreciative comments from great singers—soprano Hilde Zadek, tenors Waldemar Kmentt and René Kollo, and baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau—as well as dancer Lieselott Tietjen, biographer Walter Herrmann, and writers Klaus Geitel and Michael Wessolowski. Presented in PCM stereo, the DVD is bundled with an audio CD featuring excerpts from a 1938 Buenos Aires performance of Wagner's Siegfried with Lorenz. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)