Wagner Tannhäuser

Götz Friedrich’s controversial Tannhäuser production from 1978 scandalized the Bayreuth old guard while revealing Tannhäuser’s revolutionary qualities to a new age of Wagner lovers.This brilliantly iconoclastic production, superbly sung and conducted, ushered in a new age of Wagner interpretation. Choreography of the ‘Bacchanal’ by John Neumeier and set design and costumes by the international well known stage designer Jürgen Rose. A superb cast led by Spas Wenkoff as Tannhäuser, Gwyneth Jones as Venus as well as Elisabeth and Bernd Weikl as Wolfram.

The double title of the opera ''Tannhäuser oder der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg'', which had its grand premiere on 19 October 1845 under Wagner''s direction in the Hoftheater in Dresden, is already an indication of how Wagner''s work unites two circles of material whose tradition stems from separate sources. The figure of the minnesinger is an historical fact and his episodes are documented with the ''Tannhäuserlied'' as far back as 1520. In a musical sense, the contrast between diatonicism and chromaticism is symbolic of two different worlds.

Few productions in the Metropolitan Opera's repertory have been so unanimously admired as Richard Wagner's Tannhauser. The New York Times, reviewing the telecast performance of Tannhauser, observed:"One of the most gorgeous and gloriously romantic productions in the Met's repertory …the scenic designs are both breathtakingly grand and painstakingly subtle." The individual performers garnered praise from other critics: "you may just about explode with the musical excitement that conductor James Levine and his cast generate."

After more than forty years this remains the best recording of "Tannhäuser" for a number of reasons. Good recordings have never been thick on the ground and while this one is by no means perfect, it pretty much kicks everything else into touch by virtue of the extraordinary vibrancy and erotic ambiance of Solti's direction - I believe this to be his finest achievement in terms of pure conducting.

After Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s great success with Parsifal, Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde this is his highly acclaimed Tannhäuser coproduced with De Nederlandse Opera and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s production is based on the Paris version by Richard Wagner with an extended Venusberg scene and a ballet very surprisingly choreographed by Amir Hosseinpour and Jonathan Lunn. The minimalist staging and Raimund Bauer’s ingenious sets make this a Tannhäuser for our time. The cast as always with Lehnhoff has nothing to match these days. An extra feature entitled “Tannhäuser – The Revolutionary” includes interviews with stage director, conductor and cast as well as backstage material.

Richard Wagner’s Tannhauser, a tale of the struggle between spiritual and profane love, and of redemption through love, is given a radical visual update in Sebastian Baumgarten’s controversial Bayreuth production. • Joep van Lieshout’s giant installation ‘The Technocrat’ dominates the stage, its industrial interior suggesting that Tannhäuser is in fact one big experiment. Torsten Kerl interprets the title role, with Camilla Nylund in the role of Elisabeth. ‘‘Camilla Nylund’s Elisabeth and Kwangchul Youn’s Landgraf deservedly received the most applause at the curtain calls.’’

This is in short a really good recording. Gerdes' handling of the opera is very good (though his tempo in the Pilgrims' Chorus theme of the Overture is almost disturbingly fast), the orchestra is well controlled and very expressive. Birgit Nilsson, one of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos of the 20th Century, sings the two principle female roles - Venus and Elisabeth; Wolfgang Windgassen, who sings the role of Tannhauser, is one of the greatest Wagnerian tenors of the century. And Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who sings Wolfram, is virtually undisputed as THE baritone of the century.Highly recommend this recording.
-Amazon Review-