The struggle between sacred and profane love, with redemption through love.The struggle between sacred and profane love, with redemption through love.The struggle between sacred and profane love, with redemption through love.
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My feelings on this Tannhauser were mixed...
As a long-time opera enthusiast and of someone who loves Tannhauser I was eager to see this production. Another main attraction was Werner Herzog, whose other opera endeavours were very interesting(of the ones seen my favourite was the 1991 Lohengrin). The production gets a mixed reaction from me, it's better than the 1994 production but nowhere near as good as 1982, 1989 and especially 1978. It does have a number of good points, such as the simple yet gorgeous costume and set design, good sound, powerful orchestral playing, incisive conducting from Gustav Kuhn and two superb performances from Ludwig Baumann as a sympathetic Wolfram and Andrea Silvestrelli as a powerfully-voiced Landgrave. Gertrud Ottenthal is a touching Elisabeth too. On the other hand, I did find the camera work disappointing, not focusing enough on the singers and continually flashing back on Kuhn, which does diminish the drama. The staging and acting came across as dull to me, most of the principals' acting consists of aimlessly walking around without any sense of direction. Of the staging, the worst offenders were the corny ending and perhaps the most embarrassing account of the Venusberg scene I've seen not helped by a visibly heard bored-sounding prompter. And there were two performances that were disappointing. Marianna Pentcheva has a good voice as Venus even if short on the top register, but she is nowhere near sexy or thrilling enough for a love/sex goddess. Alan Woodrow sings the punishing role of Tannhauser, and I'm afraid to say I didn't care for him. He constantly looks insecure, and vocally you can tell he's taxed by how under-pitch and harsh tone-wise he is most of the time. Overall, as much as I love the opera and admire Herzog, apart from some good things, this Tannhauser was disappointing. 6/10 Bethany Cox
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- TheLittleSongbird
- May 27, 2012
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- Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser
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- Runtime3 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3
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