Broadcasts from the Lyric Opera of Chicago continue on Classical 90.5 at 11:00 a.m., one hour earlier than usual, this Saturday, June 20, with a performance of Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner. The libretto is by the composer. The performance will be sung in German and will run approximately five hours. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Tannhäuser, a minstrel and renegade, is lured into Venusberg, the erotic realm of the love goddess Venus. There he luxuriates in lust and sinful pleasure. Finally it's all too much. He longs to return to friends, rules of Christian conduct, and most of all to Elisabeth, the chaste young woman who will love and forgive him. Desperate to be cleansed of his sins, Tannhäuser embarks on a pilgrimage to Rome – but will that be enough to make him forget Venusberg?
CAST
Tannhäuser: Johan Botha
Elisabeth: Amber Wagner
Venus: Michaela Schuster
Wolfram: Gerald Finley
Landgraf: John Relyea
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.