Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg Castle
Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg Castle
| 10 July 1978 (USA)
Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg Castle Trailers

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.

Reviews
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
TheLittleSongbird Tannhauser is a wonderful opera, I slightly prefer Tristan and Meistersinger, but it has Wagner's best Overture(though Der Fliegende Hollander and Meistersinger are also great) and never fails to touch me. This 1978 Bayreuth performance is wonderful, and my favourite of the three Tannhausers I've seen so far, the others being the 1982 and 1994 productions, the former I did thoroughly enjoy, the latter despite three fine performances I didn't care for.Visually, this Tannhauser is not a traditional production like the 1982 production. But it actually looks good and not used in a banal way like 1994, and it also makes sense. The costumes are good. The sound quality is mostly excellent, even with the inevitable audience noise, and the picture quality is decent, you can see everybody's faces, if in need of more clarity. The camera work is always focused.Musically it is superb. Wagner's music is magnificent, powerful, haunting and beautiful. The orchestral playing do it justice, never fatigued with thrilling playing in the louder moments and sensitive playing in the softer ones. Colin Davies' conducting is correct, efficient and always respectful to the score, on par with Levine and vastly superior to Mehta. The chorus are well balanced, with a stirring Pilgrim's Chorus. The principal singing is wonderful.Spas Wenkel does a great job as Tannhauser, one of the most demanding Wagner tenor roles alongside Tristan and Siegfried. His singing is strong and unlike Cassily doesn't resort to whining and blustering as well as nasal vocal production. He is a good actor, expressive while showing some intensity, not stiff or ill-at ease like Kollo(and I actually like Kollo).Gwyneth Jones I've always loved for her intelligence, her powerful voice and riveting stage presence. Here she takes on two roles, Elisabeth and Venus. I think she is better as Elisabeth, where she is very reverent and touching. Her Venus is mostly impressive, she is sexy and sings with total commitment, if lacking the thrilling power of Meier and Troyanos in the lower register.Bernd Weikl is a splendid Wolfram, a role he knows very well. He is young, charismatic, and his voice is fresh and sonorous. Ode to the Evening Star has always been a highlight of Tannhauser and Weikl sings it beautifully. Also if you are a fan of Hans Sotin(I can't get enough of his Gurnemanz), you will love his Landgrave, it is a powerful presence. Franz Mazura is an impressive Biterolf.Overall, a wonderful production and highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Bob Taylor I saw this filmed production from Bayreuth in the early 1980's at a library showing. I was thrilled by the staging, the costumes and above all the singing. Now Deutsche Grammophon have reissued that film on 2 DVD's with excellent sound and visuals. Sometimes it gets murky on that Bayreuth stage, but we never lose sight of the singers's faces.Gwyneth Jones sings both Venus and Elizabeth; her voice is clear and ringing. Spas Wenkoff is a fine actor and has a superb voice. You can follow the anguish his character is feeling easily enough. Bernd Weikl does very well as Wolfram; he sang it on the Munich version from 1994 also.
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