THE LOS ANGELES OPERA STAGES A “TANNHAUSER” LONG ON NUDITY AND SEX
Richard Wagner had already composed Lohengrin, Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, a portion of Siegfried, and all of Tristan und Isolde, when he staged his latest masterpiece, “Tannhauser”, in the Hoftheater of Dresden on October 19, 1845.
Thirty-nine years later, it was “Tannhauser” that was to inaugurate the German regime at the New York’s Metropolitan Opera House on November 17, 1884.The so-called Paris version of the opera, deemed a dismal failure because of intrigue and interference, and for which Wagner found the opportunity to make certain revisions he had cradled in his mind, was heard at The Met on January 30, 1889.
The Los Angeles Opera, once again adhering more strongly to the axiom that it craves to be an appendix of Hollywood, produced a Tannhauser that was long on nudity (female frontal views were covered only by thongs) and raunchy sex than a respectable spectable of a story adorned with great instrumental and vocal music.
No, we are not prudes in the truest sense, but the spectacle of nearly all nude female and male bodies writhing on the stage in various sexual positions (supposedly to illustrate the frenzied passions of Venusberg) is not to our liking since it detracts from truly appreciating Wagner’s lofty musical gifts.
Nudity and sex do not belong on the operatic stage, especially since the story calls for languorous youths, who urged on by the enticement of nymphs, lead in a wild dance that grows even more riotous as it progresses.
Stripping to the bare skin and raw sex cause coarse distortions and unwanted shock to family values when presented on the operatic stage. To continue on in this vein would be saying farewell to growth and development since no paterfamilias, no matter how degenerate, would be willing to indoctrinate his young children in the beauty of opera when it is thusly defamed.
But no, stage director Ian Judge could not resist the temptation of creating a monster of carnal dissipation and raunchiness on a fabric of metaphors. No!
And Set and Costume Designer Gottfried Pilz could not avoid to use revolving walls of tall doors, adapted from a Salzburg Festival production of Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, to further aggravate the fragility on which this particular “Tannhauser” was built.
Outside of the above objections, the opera itself has all the accoutrements to coat it with brilliant colors: splendid and glorious orchestral music which Music Director James Conlon ably and characteristically extracted from the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra most of the time, strong choral forces of Maestro William Vendice which on the particular evening we attended nobly rose to the occasion, and reputable singers who, by addressing their roles with high degrees of diligence, could tip the scales successfully in favor of Wagner’s masterpiece.
Tenor Peter Seiffert, a mustachioed big man who fatigues as an actor, may be heading downhill vocally. He labored in the first act with the tessitura, and even though he redeemed himself partially towards the end of the opera, he had to muster every ounce of savvy and courage to paint the figure of the otherwise touching protagonist who seeks redemption.
Much better, and far more distictive, both vocally and figuratively, the Elizabeth of Austrian soprano Petra-Maria Schnitzer, who invested the role of Elizabeth with warmth and ardor.
Less so but also attractive the Venus of mezzo-soprano Lioba Braun.
It is unusual and a rarity indeed that a sextet of secondary singers (in importance related to the story) can be better than the main protagonists. But it happened in “Tannhauser”.In lyric baritone Martin Gantner we found an ideal Wolfran von Eschenbach. His voice is natural, pleasant sounding and replete with suavity.
And to a degree so are bass Franz-Josef Selig (Hermann), baritone Jason Stearns as Biterolf, tenor Rodrick Dixon as Walther von der Vogelweide, tenor Robert McNeil as Heinrich der Schreiber, and baritone Christoph Feigum as Reinsmar von Zweter. All five are disciplined, they acted their respective role with aplomb and diligence, and all six, especially Herr Gantner, reaped the considerable and well-earned public’s plaudits.
The voice of the Shepherd belonged to Karen Vuong, and the Four Noble Pages were depicted by Leslie Dennis, Renee Sousa, Sara Campbell and Michelle Fournier.
Lighting Designer Mark Doubleday bathed the first scene in the vivid red worn also by sexual participants as he should have.
Luigi Smaldino
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