Tannhäuser

I love Wagner's music, and Tannhauser is just another of his masterpieces. However I was disappointed in this production. I had seen the 1982 production previously, and while I wasn't a fan of Richard Cassily I was thrilled to bits with the production.

Pros: Wagner's magnificent music, especially the Overture and Ode to the Evening Star. There were at least three excellent performances too. Bernd Weikl is not at his best, like with Jokhanaan, Hans Sachs and Amfortas, but he still makes for a sonorous and commanding Wolfram(thankfully with not much of the barking heard with his Kurwenal four years after this), and Nadine Secunde a truly touching Elisabeth, like the character should be. The best of the cast though was Waltraud Meier's vocally superb and dramatically thrilling Venus, not to mention she is a woman of considerable sensuality. Brian Large's video directing is exemplary.

Cons: Visually, aside from the video directing, it is a mess. The sets are the epitome of banality and the costumes are often grotesque. The staging is bizarre and confused, full of slow-motion melodrama and I found the depictions of Venusberg and Wartburg rather distorted, Venusberg now like a dystopia and Wartburg a ruin both morally and physically. Sadly, I also didn't care for Mehta's conducting, the orchestra do what they can under him, but Mehta's work here seemed uninspired and almost completely without heart, a far cry from his excellent Il Trovatore, Tosca and La Fanciulla Del West recordings, or for Rene Kollo's(a fine artist in his prime, the 70s) Tannhauser, who sounded wobbly and strained and looked stiff.

Overall, has some great singing, but overall disappointing considering the opera. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I enjoyed this production even though it is a bit avant-guarde. The stark settings are in clear contrast to the strong emotions being presented. The overall cast is very strong and well sung. Rene Kollo is in excellent voice throughout as well as Jan-Hendrik Rootering. The Chorus and Orchestra of Bayerische Staatsoper led by Zubin Mehta is outstanding.

I don't know how to rate this performance of Tannhauser from Munich, filmed in 1994. The extreme ugliness and banality of the sets and costumes, compared to the generally fine quality of the singing and playing left me feeling somewhat depressed. Clearly I am far removed from the aesthetic of David Alden, the production designer, who seems to be mounting a production targeted at people who don't know what opera is, and don't care to find out. One example of the gap between word and image: Venus sings an aria which goes like this: "Come, beloved, see yonder grotto, filled with rosy fragrance gently wafting! That abode of sweetest delight would offer enchantment even to a god." Now we see what looks like a garbage dump.

Rene Kollo, 57 at the time of recording, sings very expressively even if his voice has worn a bit thin. He struggles a bit in the first act. Waltraud Meier as Venus is sensational, no other word for it. Her sensuality and wonderful vocalism made me forget for a time the wretched surroundings.