Dutch National Opera presents

Tannhäuser Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Sat 06 Apr 18:30 hours
Wed 10 Apr 18:30 hours
Sun 14 Apr 13:30 hours
Thu 18 Apr 18:30 hours
Sun 21 Apr 13:30 hours
Wed 24 Apr 18:30 hours
Sun 28 Apr 13:30 hours
Wed 01 May 18:30 hours
Tickets sold

Saint or sinner

Duration 4:15

Breaks 2

By Richard Wagner

Language German

Surtitles Dutch and English

With its splendid choral movements, Wagner’s ‘romantische Oper’ Tannhäuser is a true ‘singers’ opera’. German conductor Marc Albrecht and German director Christof Loy have signed on both for this fresh staging.

Sacred and profane love

Tannhäuser is the story of a knight-poet who is unable to choose between sacred love (Elisabeth) and profane love (Venus). To oblige the Paris Jockey Club, Wagner opened the first act with a racy bacchanal for dancers.

 

Venus versus Elisabeth

Weary of Venus, Tannhäuser returns home to Saxony. But during a singing contest on ‘the nature of Love’, he praises Venus, shocking everyone present except the Landgrave Hermann’s niece, Elisabeth, who defends him. To make amends, Tannhäuser goes on a pilgrimage to Rome in hopes of a papal pardon. Unsuccessful, he decides to return to Venus, but finally finds redemption when the pious Elisabeth sacrifices her life as a peace offering to God.

the story

From number opera to musical drama

For both Tannhäuser and his later Lohengrin, Richard Wagner drew on medieval songs, sagas and tales of courtly love. His narrative focuses on the rebellion of an artist whose desire to succumb to carnal lust engenders a conflict with his religious intellect; an inner dichotomy embodied by the two women he loves. Tannhäuser marks a key step in the progression from the number opera to the musical drama.

Christof Loy

Tannhäuser is Christof Loy’s first Wagner opera presentation for DNO. Known for his meticulous productions, he is a frequent guest at Europe’s major opera houses and festivals. Loy is the recipient of the Musikpreis der Stadt Duisburg, a Laurence Olivier Award for Tristan und Isolde (ROH Covent Garden) and the International Opera Award 2017 for best director, and has been hailed as director of the year by Opernwelt three times now. At DNO, Loy impressed audiences with his productions of Les vêpres siciliennes, Arabella, Chovansjtsjina and La forza del destino.

Marc Albrecht

After Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Parsifal, Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde chief conductor Marc Albrecht adds a fifth Wagner title to his arsenal of DNO productions.

The singers

A leading performer of Tannhäuser, Daniel Kirch makes his debut at DNO. Among the cast are also familiar faces, including Stephen Milling (Fasolt in Das Rheingold) as Landgrave Hermann, Svetlana Aksenova (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh en Pique Dame) as Elisabeth and Ekaterina Gubanova (Eboli in Don Carlo) as Venus.

NETHERLANDS PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Along with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra has been the regular orchestra partner of Dutch National Opera since 1985, and is internationally regarded as one of the best opera orchestras. Each season, the two orchestras perform the majority of the opera productions in Dutch National Opera & Ballet. The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra gives a varied programme of concerts in the Concertgebouw and also performs at other major concert halls and festivals in the Netherlands and abroad. Marc Albrecht is the principal conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra|Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and of Dutch National Opera. In recent seasons, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra has had great success with audiences and international press alike, with productions including Gurre-Lieder, Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, Il Trovatore and Hänsel und Gretel. The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marc Albrecht, received an Edison for their recording of the DNO production Der Schatzgräber, in December 2014.

Christof Loy

Director

Christof Loy is a sought-after opera director. His extremely detailed productions have been performed at the major opera houses and festivals in Europe, including ROH Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater an der Wien, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich and the Salzburger Festspiele.

Marc Albrecht

Chief Conductor

Marc Albrecht, Chief Conductor of The Dutch National Opera and The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra|The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is known not only for his interpretations of works by Wagner and Richard Strauss, but also for his affinity for contemporary music.

    Mon 08 Apr Het Parool - Tannhäuser (2019)

    'Don't miss this.' [...] 'Tannhäuser is an almost four-hour quivering' [...] 'This is one of those rare representations in which all parts reinforce each other.'

    Mon 08 Apr NRC - TANNHÄUSER (2019)****

    "The decor of Johannes Leiacker - a neoclassical hall that cleverly and beautifully exploits the width of the theatre - is an ideal stage for the choir of the opera, which glorifies in its monumental share."

    Mon 08 Apr PLACE DE L'OPERA - TANNHÄUSER (2019)

    "With this Tannhäuser, DNO has a trump card in its hands to look for opera houses that want to take over the production. A beautiful piece of work. It will be difficult this summer in Bayreuth to surpass it."

    Wed 14 Feb Classical Voice America on Daniel Kirch as Tannhäuser

    ‘His dark tenor voice has ample volume and nice colors, and he is dramatically compelling.'

Team, Cast and Chorus

Conductor
Marc Albrecht
Stage Director, Choreography
Christof Loy
Set Designer
Johannes Leiacker
Costume Designer
Ursula Renzenbrink
Lighting Designer
Olaf Winter
Dramaturg
Klaus Bertisch
Orchestra
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus
Dutch National Opera Chorus
Chorus Master
Ching-Lien Wu
Hermann, Landgraf von Thüringen
Stephen Milling / Karl-Heinz Lehner
Tannhäuser
Daniel Kirch
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Björn Bürger
Walther von der Vogelweide
Attilio Glaser
Biterolf
Kay Stiefermann
Heinrich der Schreiber
Lucas van Lierop - Dutch National Opera Studio
Reinmar von Zweter
Eric Ander
Elisabeth
Svetlana Aksenova
Venus
Ekaterina Gubanova
Ein junger Hirt
Julietta Aleksanyan - Dutch National Opera Studio
4 Edelknaben
Tomoko Makuuchi, Fang Fang Kong, Elsa Barthas en Itzel Medecigo