return to the Landgrave’s palace in the Wartburg, where he is reunited with the rapturous Elisabeth, who knows nothing of his dalliance with Venus.The Landgrave announces a singing contest, for which the prize is Elisabeth’s hand in marriage.The knight Wolfram sings of love in spiritual terms, but Tannhäuser is suddenly possessed, and bursts out in celebration of the carnal delight he enjoyed with Venus.The court is scandalized.Tannhäuser is immediately overcome with remorse, and Elisabeth dramatically intercedes to plead for mercy.But the furious Landgrave insists that Tannhäuser leave the Wartburg, join the pilgrimage to Rome and seek absolution from the Pope.
Months later, Elisabeth is still praying patiently for Tannhäuser’s happy return from Rome.On the road home, Tannhäuser tells Wolfram that the Pope refused to pardon him, claiming that he could no more forgive him than his staff could sprout leaves.In despair, he plans to return to the Venusberg.As a vision of Venus appears, Wolfram reminds Tannhäuser of Elisabeth’s devotion.Tannhäuser manages to resist the temptation and the vision evaporates.Elisabeth, however, has died.As her funeral procession passes, Tannhäuser collapses.The chorus of pilgrims tell of a miracle – the Pope’s staff has burst into leaf, confirming that Tannhäuser’s soul has been saved.
What to listen for
Few would claim that Tannhäuser is an immediately lovable piece.Of all Wagner’s operas, it is the most badly dated, sinking into the quicksands of its own religiosity.It has dull and even inept patches (such as the overlong and relentless ensemble at the end of Act II) and an overall dramatic slackness which makes Act III an anticlimax.Wagner had still not altogether mastered the art of making dialogue musically engaging.Tannhäuser (tenor) himself is an unsympathetic character, both as sinner and penitent.But for the Victorians, this wasWagner’s most popular work and a good performance will still reward the listener with much unashamedly tuneful music, notably in Elisabeth’s contrasting soprano arias, the jubilant ‘Dich, teure Halle’ at the beginning of Act II and the serene prayer to the Virgin Mary, ‘Allmächt’ge Jungfrau’, and the baritone Wolfram’s showpiece, ‘O du, mein holder Abendstern’.Other pleasures of the score include the lusciously sensual music for the mezzo-soprano Venus (a pre-echo of Act II of Parsifal ) and the stirring fervour of the Pilgrims’ chorus, both of which feature in the magnificent overture.
To make a dramatic point – they represent two sides of the same coin – Venus and Elisabeth are sometimes sung by the same soprano.This is not a vocally easy task, as the two roles are pitched and coloured so differently.
In performance
A problem piece, which directors find hard to handle.Until the 1960s, the opera was seen as pivoting on a black-and-white conflict between the profane sensuality of Venus and the sacred purity of Elisabeth.In a controversial 1970s production at Bayreuth, however, Götz Friedrich suggested that the moral standards of the Wartburg were oppressive and coercive, and no better than the illusory fleshpots of Venusberg.For the rebellious outsider Tannhäuser, neither environment offered the opportunity for creative self-realization and his tragedy becomes that of a man who fails to find anything positive he can commit himself to.Younger directors have continued to question the opera’s moral stance: in Chicago, Peter Sellars updated the action to the world of corrupt American tele-evangelists, with Tannhäuser as a preacher caught up in Venusberg sleaze; in Munich, David Alden saw the opera as a parable of sexual liberation, seen against the sinister background of German nationalism.
Recording
CD: Rene Kollo (Tannhäuser); Georg Solti (cond.).Decca 414 581-2
Lohengrin
Three acts. First performed Weimar, 1850.
Libretto by the composer
Wagner’s previous operas had been composed piecemeal, in
Months later, Elisabeth is still praying patiently for Tannhäuser’s happy return from Rome.On the road home, Tannhäuser tells Wolfram that the Pope refused to pardon him, claiming that he could no more forgive him than his staff could sprout leaves.In despair, he plans to return to the Venusberg.As a vision of Venus appears, Wolfram reminds Tannhäuser of Elisabeth’s devotion.Tannhäuser manages to resist the temptation and the vision evaporates.Elisabeth, however, has died.As her funeral procession passes, Tannhäuser collapses.The chorus of pilgrims tell of a miracle – the Pope’s staff has burst into leaf, confirming that Tannhäuser’s soul has been saved.
What to listen for
Few would claim that Tannhäuser is an immediately lovable piece.Of all Wagner’s operas, it is the most badly dated, sinking into the quicksands of its own religiosity.It has dull and even inept patches (such as the overlong and relentless ensemble at the end of Act II) and an overall dramatic slackness which makes Act III an anticlimax.Wagner had still not altogether mastered the art of making dialogue musically engaging.Tannhäuser (tenor) himself is an unsympathetic character, both as sinner and penitent.But for the Victorians, this wasWagner’s most popular work and a good performance will still reward the listener with much unashamedly tuneful music, notably in Elisabeth’s contrasting soprano arias, the jubilant ‘Dich, teure Halle’ at the beginning of Act II and the serene prayer to the Virgin Mary, ‘Allmächt’ge Jungfrau’, and the baritone Wolfram’s showpiece, ‘O du, mein holder Abendstern’.Other pleasures of the score include the lusciously sensual music for the mezzo-soprano Venus (a pre-echo of Act II of Parsifal ) and the stirring fervour of the Pilgrims’ chorus, both of which feature in the magnificent overture.
To make a dramatic point – they represent two sides of the same coin – Venus and Elisabeth are sometimes sung by the same soprano.This is not a vocally easy task, as the two roles are pitched and coloured so differently.
In performance
A problem piece, which directors find hard to handle.Until the 1960s, the opera was seen as pivoting on a black-and-white conflict between the profane sensuality of Venus and the sacred purity of Elisabeth.In a controversial 1970s production at Bayreuth, however, Götz Friedrich suggested that the moral standards of the Wartburg were oppressive and coercive, and no better than the illusory fleshpots of Venusberg.For the rebellious outsider Tannhäuser, neither environment offered the opportunity for creative self-realization and his tragedy becomes that of a man who fails to find anything positive he can commit himself to.Younger directors have continued to question the opera’s moral stance: in Chicago, Peter Sellars updated the action to the world of corrupt American tele-evangelists, with Tannhäuser as a preacher caught up in Venusberg sleaze; in Munich, David Alden saw the opera as a parable of sexual liberation, seen against the sinister background of German nationalism.
Recording
CD: Rene Kollo (Tannhäuser); Georg Solti (cond.).Decca 414 581-2
Lohengrin
Three acts. First performed Weimar, 1850.
Libretto by the composer
Wagner’s previous operas had been composed piecemeal, in
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