06/27/15 – Tannhäuser – 1PM

Lyric Opera of Chicago

• by Richard Wagner
• In German with projected English texts
• Approximate running time: 4hrs, 11 min

Only gods can live in endless bliss.

Tannhäuser, minstrel and renegade, is lured into the erotic realm of the love goddess Venus. There he luxuriates in lust and a host of sinful pleasures. But finally it’s all too much. He longs to return home, and does — to friends, rules of Christian conduct, and most of all, to Elisabeth, the warm but chaste young woman who loves him, despite the grief he’s caused. Desperate for absolution, Tannhäuser joins his fellow pilgrims, journeying to Rome to ask forgiveness for his sins. But once you’ve been to the Venusberg, you can never truly leave.

Sir Andrew Davis is on the podium for this monumental vocal, choral, and orchestral event.

Savor the famous overture, the frenzied bacchanal with its sexy ballet, the sublime “Song to the Evening Star,” the stirring “Pilgrims’ Chorus,” and more, in a remarkable work that transfixes audiences with both its sensuality and its majestic power.

Lyric Opera presentation generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor and the NIB Foundation with additional support by Marion A. Cameron.

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Starring

• 

  Tannhäuser

  Johan Botha

  Today’s most lauded Tannhäuser, Johan Botha “is a marvel” (The Guardian). His command of this killer role “is almost unbelievable.”concertonet.com
• 

  Elisabeth

  Amber Wagner

  Expect an incandescent Elisabeth from Amber Wagner, “with her luscious outpouring of sound and a voice that reminds me of Jessye Norman in her prime.” Chicago Tribune
• 

  Venus

  Michaela Schuster

  Michaela Schuster (a show-stopping villainess in Lyric’s 2011 Lohengrin) “is superb as the seductive Venus.” The Telegraph 
• 

  Wolfram

  Gerald Finley

  Riveting as Oppenheimer in Lyric’s Doctor Atomic, Gerald Finley is acclaimed on major stages everywhere because “he is extraordinary both vocally and dramatically.” The Guardian
• 

  Landgraf

  John Relyea

  John Relyea: “His sonorous bass-baritone is beautiful, and he gives audiences performances of hair-raising vocal and emotional power.”
  The Scotsman