What if your ex was literally a goddess and your rebound was... the Pope's forgiveness?
TANNHÄUSER UND DER SÄNGERKRIEG AUF WARTBURG is a grand opera by Richard Wagner in three acts. After experiencing boundless sensuality and freedom with the fun-loving Venus (soprano), the singer Tannhäuser (Tenor) finds it impossible to conform to the cultured setting of his betrothed Elizabeth (soprano), who loves him. During a singing contest, Tannhäuser describes the affair with Venus as the ultimate love experience and because of that, he is cast out from the established society. Thanks to Elizabeth's intervention, he is allowed to undertake a pilgrimage to the Pope to ask for the Holy Father's pardon. If the Pope accepts to forgive him, he would be allowed to take back his place in society. Tannhäuser accepts. But fate will not allow him to meet with his beloved Elizabeth again in this life. This is a recording of the legendary staging by Götz Friedrich for the 1978 Bayreuth Festival conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
Direction
Friedrich's Venusberg is gloriously sleazy, all rotating platforms and flesh.
Acting
Gwyneth Jones plays both saint and sinner—same voice, two devastating women.
Score
That overture alone justifies the runtime. Wagner knew his way around horniness.
Director
Thomas Olofsson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Götz Friedrich's production became the definitive modern Tannhäuser, running at Bayreuth for over a decade. His Venusberg replaced traditional ballet with expressionist nightmare fuel.
Wagner originally wrote two versions of this opera—the 'Paris' version with extended ballet to appease French audiences, and this leaner 'Dresden' version. Davis conducts the Dresden.
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