Tannhäuser: Mikhail Vekua
Elisabeth: Irina Churilova
Venus: Tatiana Pavlovskaya
Wolfram von Eschinbach: Vladislav Kupriyanov
Hermann: Ilya Bannik
Walther von der Vogelweide: Roman Arndt
Biterolf: Sergei Romanov
World premiere: 19 October 1845, Königlich Sächsisches Hoftheater (Semperoper), Dresden
Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 13 December 1874, Imperial Russian Opera Company (performed in Russian, translated by Konstantin Zvantsov)
Premiere of this production: 17 June 2021, Mariinsky II
Running time: 4 hours
The performance has two intervals
Tannhäuser occupies a special position in the Mariinsky Theatre's Wagnerian stock: in just two years one and the same production team presented two totally different stage versions of this opera – one at the Concert Hall and another at the Mariinsky-II. Constant change and renewal have indeed been inherent in Tannhäuser since its inception: Wagner wrote it in 1845 and over the course of the rest of his life he returned to it many times – both due to external considerations to meet the requirements of various theatres and from inner convictions that compelled the maestro always to be refining and perfecting his creation. Versions followed one after another, though Wagner never did dot the final 'i' and cross the final 't' of his ideal Tannhäuser, declaring that in this regard he still "owed the world a debt".
At the Mariinsky Theatre it is the so-called Dresden version of the opera that is performed – it is thus named after the city where the world premiere took place. This means that one of Wagner's most vivid works – the fifteen-minute-long overture to Tannhäuser, a brilliant "synopsis" of the whole opera with a staggering acoustic catharsis at its end – is performed here in its entirety. the overture foretells the three acts in which the plot unfolds in typically unhurried Wagnerian fashion (each act lasts one hour), yet the tension never slackens for a moment. the philosophical composer loaded a tried and tested operatic and dramatic genre – the love triangle – with complex ethical and aesthetic problems. the points of the triangle depict archetypal images: the Artist, the Fornicatress and the Saint. the Artist yields his heart to first one and then the other beloved, and these struggles between two polar opposites, between the heights of logic and the depths of instincts, between the spirit and the flesh, all burst forth in his art. Any judgement of such art is merciless: passionate, free, out of control – in a word, revolutionary art is regarded by society that can think in no other way as intolerable and threatening. the universal nature of Wagner's ideas allowed the production team to abandon fairytale chivalrous romanticism and relocate the action in harsh contemporary reality, a reality that is not romantic at all: stuffy backstage intrigue, a congress of a totalitarian party sect, a run-down urban district with a public house... Visually, the production is crammed with allegories over which it is interesting to ponder, while the provocative associative context is addressed to the personal experiences of the audience. the new Tannhäuser at the Mariinsky Theatre is bold, challenging and musically magnificent, just like the legendary appearance of its protagonist at a jousting competition. Khristina Batyushina
The highlighting of performances by age represents recommendations.
This highlighting is being used in accordance with Federal Law N436-FZ dated 29 December 2010 (edition dated 1 May 2019) "On the protection of children from information that may be harmful to their health"