Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg Castle
10/07/1978
TANNHÄUSER UND DER SÄNGERKRIEG AUF WARTBURG is a grand opera by Richard Wagner in three acts. After experiencing boundless sensuality and freedom with the fun-loving Venus (soprano), the singer Tannhäuser (Tenor) finds it impossible to conform to the cultured setting of his betrothed Elizabeth (soprano), who loves him. During a singing contest, Tannhäuser describes the affair with Venus as the ultimate love experience and because of that, he is cast out from the established society. Thanks to Elizabeth's intervention, he is allowed to undertake a pilgrimage to the Pope to ask for the Holy Father's pardon. If the Pope accepts to forgive him, he would be allowed to take back his place in society. Tannhäuser accepts. But fate will not allow him to meet with his beloved Elizabeth again in this life. This is a recording of the legendary staging by Götz Friedrich for the 1978 Bayreuth Festival conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
Movie Information
Gwyneth Jones
as Elisabeth / Venus
Spas Wenkoff
as Tannhäuser
Bernd Weikl
as Wolfram von Eschenbach
Hans Sotin
as Landgraf
Robert Schunk
as Walther von der Vogelweide
Franz Mazura
as Biterolf
John Pickering
as Heinrich der Schreiber
Heinz Feldhoff
as Reinmar von Zweter
Klaus Brettschneider
as Ein junger Hirt
Irene Hammann
as Edelknaben
Angelika Jung-Nowski
as Edelknaben
Roswitha Korff-Krüger
as Edelknaben
Natuse von Stegmann
as Edelknaben
Colin Davis
as Self - Conductor
