Live From the Met: Tannhäuser

Sunday, November 1, 1:00 pm, Orcas Center

— from Artha Kass —

James Levine conducts Wagner’s early masterpiece Tannhäuser in its first return to the Met stage in more than a decade. We will experience it streaming “Live: in HD” at Orcas Center on Sunday, November 1 at 1:00 pm. Today’s leading Wagnerian tenor, Johan Botha, takes on the daunting title role of the young knight caught between true love and passion. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, adding another Wagner heroine to her Met repertoire.

The title character was a real 13th-century Minnesinger who inspired a legend that Wagner used as the basis for the opera. Tannhäuser takes place in and around Wartburg Castle, in Thuringia in central Germany, and in the mythical grotto of Venus, the goddess of love. Wartburg was the setting of a—possibly legendary—13th-century song contest as well as the home of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), wife of the Landgrave of Thuringia. It would later become associated with Martin Luther, who translated the New Testament from Greek into German there. The pagan–Christian dichotomy expressed in the twofold setting is central to the opera’s dramatic core.

Tannhäuser opened at the Royal Theater in Dresden in 1845 starring Wagner’s niece, Johanna Wagner, singing the role of Elisabeth at the age of 19. The production was not the success that Wagner hoped for and immediately began modifying the opera for the next few years. These changes included adding a ballet to the new production. In 1884, the first Met production of Tannhäuser premiered. With over 470 performances, the opera has become the third most popular Wagner opera for the company.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was the controversial creator of music-drama masterpieces that stand at the center of today’s operatic repertory. An artistic revolutionary who reimagined every supposition about theater, Wagner insisted that words and music were equals in his works. This approach led to the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art,” combining music, poetry, architecture, painting, and other disciplines, a notion that has had an impact on creative fields far beyond opera.

Check out trailers, behind the scenes, cast and photos at www.orcascenter.org.

Come join us for a rich and fulfilling Sunday afternoon!

Tickets for The Met: Live in HD Tannhäuser are $18, $13 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon – 2 pm. $5 Subsidized tickets available at the Box Office. For more information about Orcas Center’s 2015 season visit www.orcascenter.org.