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There are many videos of Bayreuth performances, but this was the first. For that reason alone, it’s worth watching; fortunately it isn’t the only reason.
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Unlike later recordings, this one includes curtain calls. I reflect this was an capable decision, since it evokes the thrill of being piece of a Bayreuth audience. Only in Bayreuth will an audience remain absolutely soundless until the last effect has aged, and then erupt in a paroxism of emotion - respectable or poor. Listen carefully, and you’ll hear the point where the audience commence to mark their feet, causing the wooden structure of the Festspielhaus to resonate with a sound like snarl. They obviously liked this performance.
And why not, indeed; it’s salubrious.
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Gwyneth Jones performs both Venus and Elizabeth, as Birgit Nilsson did, encourage in the sixties. There were some difficulties - her lower register wasn’t quite up to the essentially mezzo allotment of Venus, and her microscopic stature meant that she had to stand on a box throughout act I (somewhat limiting her range of movement) . That’s her on the veil of the DVD - you can leer the corner of the box if you seek closely. However, her acting ability, stage presence and total commitment to her roles more than compensated for these minor, er, shortcomings.
Spas Wenkoff’s Tannhauser was bulky of manic glee (although this might have been a combination of close-ups and operatic acting) . Astounding strong reveal, with none of the whiny edge that I’ve heard in other Tannhausers.
The unbelievably young Bernd Weikl was a sparkling Wolfram - a role which he was to play many times. You might like to incompatibility his performance here with the one in the 1994 Munich performance, with Waltraud Myer as Venus.
The orchestra, chorus and other performers all lived up the normal Bayreuth standards of perfection. Colin Davis maintained a spirited and expressive tempo.
This is the plump Paris version, complete with a somewhat prim Bacchanale, filmed in 1978, when this originally controversial production had been approved by the Bayreuth audience.
Technical issues? A few. After all, the film was made thirty years ago. The sound is almost perfect, but there are a couple of occasions where background noise intrudes. Thankfully they’re brief. The image quality is somewhat variable, particularly in the darker passages. Again, this isn’t obtrusive - I’m fair being picky.
Strongly recommended.
This is a recording of a live performance out of Bayreuth in 1978. Like most (though by no means all) Bayreuth audiences, this one is extraordinarily agreeable, so coughs at evil times aren’t an enlighten and one gets all the benefits of a live performance without any of the drawbacks. There are curtain calls at the raze of every act, but with the advent of the fast-forward button, these are not annoying.
As a warning, the production isn’t strictly “obsolete”: Landgraf and the minnesingers are dressed in Faschist/Nazi style and the Venusberg is reimagined as a sort of opulent prison (Tannhauser looks through the strings of his harp during the overture as if they are prison bars.) Most of the time, though, the production makes sense: the minnesingers carry harps, the singing contest is in the broad hall of Wartburg, the Venusberg is underground and has its scantily clad nymphs, etc. Given what Wagner operas are turned into these days, this is as musty a production as one is likely to net, unless one opts for the insensible and generally poorly sung/acted Met version.
Now, to obtain to the *real* reason for buying this version: the cast. It’s far respectable to the Met’s version and the other Bayreuth version in terms of both acting and singing. Bernd Weikl sounds and looks great fresher here (being 4 years younger than in the Met version) as Wolfram. If you don’t like Gwyneth Jones, halt away: she plays both Venus and Elisabeth. I like her beautiful (though I don’t admire her), and though she tends to be a bit wild vocally her acting ability more than makes up for it. In the third act, she literally crawls across the stage and cries loyal tears during her prayer to the Virgin. When she goes offstage to die, you own it. That said, I purchase the Met’s Troyanos for Venus, because Jones’ fach is not quite proper for the section (I like my Venus a bit more mezzo-ish), and the Venus (can’t remember her name) from the other Bayreuth Tannhauser was unbiased uninteresting abominable. However, Jones stands head and shoulders above the Met’s Eva Marton as Elisabeth (even if she can’t match Cheryl Studer), and as Venus she doesn’t give great to complain about, either.
And Tannhauser himself? Spas Wenkoff (who? ) does a incredible job. The role of Tannhauser is one well known for being a voice-killer, but Wenkoff manages not only to notify the notes but to inflect them properly for the drama. That his philosophize and appearance are more fair than the Met’s Richard Cassilly’s are also major pluses. He’s not a incredible actor (too worthy unfamiliar, creepy smiling) but he’s favorable enough to commence out with and only gets better from Act One on. His Rome Tale is Wagner candy, and his deny never shows any signs of unimaginative.
This a a very well-balanced production, which is why I judge it works so well: the performers interact convincingly (unlike in the Met’s), conducting by Colin Davis is sensitive (unlike Sinopoli’s, whose major prick in Act 1 confuses me), and the singing standard is generally high–for the ’70s, which were dismal days for Wagner singing, the standard is very high indeed.
The technical details are as follows: There are subtitles in German, English, French, Spanish and Chinese, along with two options for audio: PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround sound, all of which can be accessed by the DVD menu. There is also a slight booklet detailing the production’s origins/interpretations.
