DownWithTyranny!: [10/23/2011] Continuing our look at "Tannhäuser" from the vantage point of Wolfram von Eschenbach (continued)

FIRST LET'S REVIEW THE MUSICO-SCENIC TRANSFORMATION
IN MUSIC FROM THE VENUSBERG TO OUR THURINGIAN VALLEY

When I began preparing audio files to present this astounding musical transformation, I didn't know how much of it I was going to cover in the preview installment, drawn from still other recordings. All of it, it turned out -- and even a little bit more; for the preview I included the first part of the Pilgrims' Chorus. Oh well! Personally, I can never get enough of this transformative moment, and there's quite a lot of difference among these performances (not counting not-quite-identical starting and stopping points, partly owing to a slight difference here between the Dresden and Paris versions of the Tannhäuser-Venus scene). One thing we've got plenty of today is big-name and big-result Shepherds.

WAGNER: Tannhäuser: Act I, Tannhäuser, "Göttin der Wonn und Lust, nein!" ("Goddess of bliss and delight, no!" . . . Shepherd, "Frau Holda kam aus dem Berg hervor" ("Dame Holda came forth from the mountain")

TANNHÄUSER: Goddess of bliss and delight, no!
Ah, not in you shall I find peace and rest!
My salvation lies in Mary!

TANNHÄUSER, who has not left his position, suddenly finds himself transported to a beautiful valley. Blue sky, bright sunshine. To the right, in the background, the Wartburg. Through an opening in the valley on the left can be seen the Hörselberg. To the right, from halfway up the valley a mountain path leads from the direction of the Wartburg toward the foreground, where it then diverges to the side. In the same foreground is a shrine to the Virgin Mary, led up to by a slight rocky ledge. From the heights on the left is heard the sound of sheep bells. On a high rock sits a young shepherd with his pipe, looking toward the valley.

THE SHEPHERD: Dame Holda came forth from the mountain
to roam through field and meadow;
my ear caught a sound there so sweet,
my eye longed to behold.
[He plays.]
There I dreamt many a sweet dream,
and my eyes had scarcely opened when
there the sun shone warm.
May, May had come!
Now I gaily play my pipe.
May is here, the lovely May!

Barbara Bonney (s), the Shepherd; with Plácido Domingo (t), Tannhäuser; Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. DG, recorded April-June 1988 [audio link]

Gundula Janowitz (s), the Shepherd; with Hans Beirer (t), Tannhäuser; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded live, Jan. 8, 1963 (mono) [audio link]

Dorothea Röschmann (s), the Shepherd; with Peter Seiffert (t), Tannhäuser; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded May-June 2001 [audio link]

Erna Berger (s), the Shepherd; with Sigismund Pilinszky (t), Tannnhäuser; Bayreuth Festival (1930) Chorus and Orchestra, Karl Elmendorff, cond. EMI, recorded 1930 (mono) [audio link]

YOU RECALL THAT ONCE THE PILGRIMS ARE SAFELY OFF TO
ROME, WE HEAR THE LANDGRAF'S HUNTING PARTY GATHERING

Orchestra of the Deutsche Staatsoper, Franz Konwitschny, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 17-21, 1960 [audio link]

. . . AND THAT THE LANDGRAF SOON SPOTS THE STRANGER
WHO TURNS OUT TO BE NONE OTHER THAN TANNHÄUSER

Act I, Arrival of the Landgraf's party . . . Landgraf, "Wer ist der dort?"

LANDGRAF [catches sight of TANNHÄUSER]:
Who is that man yonder, sunk in fervent prayer?
WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE: A penitent surely.
BITEROLF: By his garb a knight.
WOLFRAM [rushes up to TANNHÄUSER and recognizes him]: It is he!
WALTHER, HEINRICH DER SCHREIBER, BITEROLF, and REINMAR: Heinrich! Heinrich! Do I see right?
[TANNHÄUSER, who, surprised, has gotten up quickly, pulls himself together and bows to the LANDGRAF, after he has glanced briefly at him and the Singers.]
LANDGRAF: Is it really you? Have you returned to the circle you
forsook in haughty arrogance?
BITEROLF: Say, what does your return signify for us?
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: Tell us what!
BITEROLF: Reconciliation? Or does it betoken renewed strife?
WALTHER: Do you approach us as friend or foe?
SINGERS except WOLFRAM: As foe?

René Pape (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Gunnar Gudbjörnsson (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Hanno Müller-Brachmann (b), Biterolf; Thomas Hampson (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Stephan Rügamer (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Alfred Reiter (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded May-June 2001 [audio link]

Now Wagner delivers a quintessential Wolframian moment, as he responds to the suggestion that Tannhäuser could have returned as a foe. I thought of stringing together five or ten performances of this tiny bit, but finally settled for these two, run consecutively in the same clip.

Act I, Wolfram, "O fraget nicht! Ist dies des Hochmuts Miene?" . . . "Gegrüsst sei uns"

WOLFRAM: Oh, do not ask! Is this the bearing of arrogance?
[to TANNHÄUSER] Be welcome, you valiant Singer,
who have been, oh, so long absent from our midst!

LANDGRAF [catches sight of TANNHÄUSER]:
Who is that man yonder, sunk in fervent prayer?
WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE: A penitent surely.
BITEROLF: By his garb a knight.
WOLFRAM [rushes up to TANNHÄUSER and recognizes him]: It is he!
WALTHER, HEINRICH DER SCHREIBER, BITEROLF, and REINMAR: Heinrich! Heinrich! Do I see right?
[TANNHÄUSER, who, surprised, has gotten up quickly, pulls himself together and bows to the LANDGRAF, after he has glanced briefly at him and the Singers.]
LANDGRAF: Is it really you? Have you returned to the circle you
forsook in haughty arrogance?
BITEROLF: Say, what does your return signify for us?
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: Tell us what!
BITEROLF: Reconciliation? Or does it betoken renewed strife?
WALTHER: Do you approach us as friend or foe?
SINGERS except WOLFRAM: As foe?
WOLFRAM: Oh, do not ask! Is this the bearing of arrogance?
[to TANNHÄUSER] Be welcome, you valiant Singer,
who have been, oh, so long absent from our midst!
WALTHER: Welcome, if you come in peace!
BITEROLF: Welcome, if you call us friends!
Welcome! Welcome! We greet you!
THE OTHER SINGERS except WOLFRAM: Welcome! Welcome! We greet you!
LANDGRAF: Be welcome then to me as well!
Tell us -- where have you tarried so long?
TANNHÄUSER: I have journeyed in far distant realms --
there where I never found repose nor rest.
Do not ask! I did not come hither to contend with you.
Be reconciled with me and let me go on further!
LANDGRAF: Not so! You have become one of us once more.
WALTHER: You may not go away.
BITEROLF: We will not let you go.
LANDGRAF and SINGERS except BITEROLF: Stay with us!
TANNHÄUSER: Let me be! Delay avails me naught,
and never can I stop to rest!
My way bids me only hasten onward,
and never may I cast a backward glance!
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: Oh, stay! You shall tarry with us,
we will not let you go from us!
you have sought us out, why hurry away
after so short a reunion?
TANNHÄUSER [tearing himself away]: Away, away from here!
SINGERS: Stay, stay with us!

Matti Salminen (bs), Landgraf Hermann; William Pell (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Kurt Rydl (bs), Biterolf; Andreas Schmidt (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Clemens Bieber (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Oskar Hillebrant (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Plácido Domingo (t), Tannhäuser; Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. DG, recorded Apr.-June 1988 [audio link]

It's once again Wolfram who steps up -- with 10 seconds' worth of pure vocal magic, which we once again hear delivered by the elegant 1930-vintage Herbert Janssen and by George London.

Act I, Wolfram, "Bleib' bei Elisabeth!"

WOLFRAM: Stay with Elisabeth!

(1) Herbert Janssen (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Bayreuth Festival (1930) Orchestra, Karl Elmendorff, cond. EMI, recorded 1930
(2) George London (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, cond. Live performance, Jan. 29, 1955 [audio link]

The mention of Elisabeth's name brings forth a potential moment of magic from Tannhäuser as well. We're going to hear that now, and continue on as Wolfram asks the Landgraf's permission to share some sensitive personal information. For the sake of the chance to sample the literally matchless Tannhäuser of Lauritz Melchior, we're going to hear Herbert Janssen as Wolfram again, but 12 years later, vocally much changed -- now pushing his once-honeyed lyric baritone into the Heldenbariton repertory. (In the latter performance, I apologize for the final syllable of Alexander Kipnis's last line being cut off. The CD track point occurs here, and I wasn't going to tack on a single-note track.)

Act I, Wolfram, "Bleib' bei Elisabeth!" . . . Tannhäuser, "Elisabeth!"

WOLFRAM [stepping in TANNHÄUSER's path, with raised voice]: Stay with Elisabeth!
TANNHÄUSER: Elisabeth! O heavenly powers,
do you cry out that sweet name to me?
WOLFRAM: You shall not rebuke me as enemy, for that I have
spoken it!
[to the LANDGRAF] Do you permit me, sir, to be
herald of his good fortune to him?
LANDGRAF: Tell him of the spell he has wrought,
and God grant him virtue,
that he may undo it aright.

Herbert Janssen (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Lauritz Melchior (t), Tannhäuser; Alexander Kipnis (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, George Szell, cond. Live performance, Dec. 19, 1942 [audio link]

Heinrich Schlusnus (b), Wolfgang von Eschenbach; Günther Treptow (t), Tannhäuser; Otto von Rohr (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Hessian Radio Orchestra, Kurt Schröder, cond. Broadcast performance, 1950 [audio link]

THIS BRINGS US TO THE POINT WHEN WOLFRAM
SINGS "ALS DU IN KÜHNEM SANGE" . . .

. . . of which we've already heard two pretty special stand-alone performances, before the click-through. Now let's hear it in context, backtracking to Wolfram's "Bleib' bei Elisabeth" and then continuing on to the point where Tannhäuser not only agrees to stay but asks to be led to Elisabeth.

Act I, Wolfram, "Bleib' bei Elisabeth!" . . . Tannhäuser: "Elisabeth! O Macht des Himmels!" . . . Wolfram, "Als du in kühnem Sange" . . . Tannhäuser, "Zu ihr! Zu ihr!"

WOLFRAM [stepping in TANNHÄUSER's path, with raised voice]: Stay with Elisabeth!
TANNHÄUSER: Elisabeth! O heavenly powers,
do you cry out that sweet name to me?
WOLFRAM: You shall not rebuke me as enemy, for that I have
spoken it!
[to the LANDGRAF] Do you permit me, sir, to be
herald of his good fortune to him?
LANDGRAF: Tell him of the spell he has wrought,
and God grant him virtue,
that he may undo it aright.
WOLFRAM: When you strove with us in blithe song,
sometimes victorious against our lays,
anon defeated through our art,
one prze there was that you alone succeeded in winning.
Was it by magic or by pure might
that you achieved the miracle
or captivating the most virtuous of maids
by your singing filled with joy and sorrow?
For when, in haughtiness, you left us,
her heart closed to our song;
we saw her cheeks grow pale,
she ever shunned our circle.
Oh, return, you valiant Singer,
let not your song be far from ours.
Let her no longer be absent from our festivals,
let her star shine on us once more!
SINGERS except WOLFRAM: Be one of us, Heinrich, return to us!
Have done with dissension and strife!
Let our lays ring out in unison,
and brothers let us call ourselves from henceforth.
WOLFRAM: Oh, return, you valiant Singer!
Oh, return!
Let our lays ring out in unison,
and brothers let us call ourselves from henceforth.
LANDGRAF: Oh, return, you valiant Singer!
Have done with dissension and strife!
TANNHÄUSER [deeply moved, embraces WOLFRAM and warmly]: To her! To her! Oh, lead me to her!
Ha, how I recognize it again,
the lovely world that I renounced!
The heavens look down upon me,
the meadows sparkle, richly decked!
The spring, the spring
with a thousand lovely sounds
has entered into my soul, rejoicing!
In sweet impetuous urgency
my heart cries aloud:
To her, to her!
Lead me to her!

Andreas Schmidt (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Plácido Domingo (t), Tannhäuser; Matti Salminen (bs), Landgraf Hermann; William Pell (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Clemens Bieber (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Kurt Rydl (bs), Biterolf; Oskar Hillebrant (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. DG, recorded Apr.-June 1988 [audio link]

Eberhard Wächter (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Wolfgang Windgassen (t), Tannhäuser; Josef Greindl (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Gerhard Stolze (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Georg Paskuda (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Franz Crass (bs), Biterolf; Gerd Nienstedt (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Bayreuth Festival (1962) Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. Philips, recorded live, 1962 [audio link]

FINALLY, HERE'S THE WHOLE OF ACT I, SCENE 4, PICKING
UP FROM THE HORN CALLS HERALDING THE LANDGRAF'S PARTY

Tannhäuser, Act I, Scene 4, Landgraf, "Wer ist der dort?"

LANDGRAF [catches sight of TANNHÄUSER]:
Who is that man yonder, sunk in fervent prayer?
WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE: A penitent surely.
BITEROLF: By his garb a knight.
WOLFRAM [rushes up to TANNHÄUSER and recognizes him]: It is he!
WALTHER, HEINRICH DER SCHREIBER, BITEROLF, and REINMAR: Heinrich! Heinrich! Do I see right?
[TANNHÄUSER, who, surprised, has gotten up quickly, pulls himself together and bows to the LANDGRAF, after he has glanced briefly at him and the Singers.]
LANDGRAF: Is it really you? Have you returned to the circle you
forsook in haughty arrogance?
BITEROLF: Say, what does your return signify for us?
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: Tell us what!
BITEROLF: Reconciliation? Or does it betoken renewed strife?
WALTHER: Do you approach us as friend or foe?
SINGERS except WOLFRAM: As foe?
WOLFRAM: Oh, do not ask! Is this the bearing of arrogance?
[to TANNHÄUSER] Be welcome, you valiant Singer,
who have been, oh, so long absent from our midst!
WALTHER: Welcome, if you come in peace!
BITEROLF: Welcome, if you call us friends!
Welcome! Welcome! We greet you!
THE OTHER SINGERS except WOLFRAM: Welcome! Welcome! We greet you!
LANDGRAF: Be welcome then to me as well!
Tell us -- where have you tarried so long?
TANNHÄUSER: I have journeyed in far distant realms --
there where I never found repose nor rest.
Do not ask! I did not come hither to contend with you.
Be reconciled with me and let me go on further!
LANDGRAF: Not so! You have become one of us once more.
WALTHER: You may not go away.
BITEROLF: We will not let you go.
LANDGRAF and SINGERS except BITEROLF: Stay with us!
TANNHÄUSER: Let me be! Delay avails me naught,
and never can I stop to rest!
My way bids me only hasten onward,
and never may I cast a backward glance!
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: Oh, stay! You shall tarry with us,
we will not let you go from us!
you have sought us out, why hurry away
after so short a reunion?
TANNHÄUSER [tearing himself away]: Away, away from here!
SINGERS: Stay, stay with us!
WOLFRAM [stepping in TANNHÄUSER's path, with raised voice]: Stay with Elisabeth!
TANNHÄUSER: Elisabeth! O heavenly powers,
do you cry out that sweet name to me?
WOLFRAM: You shall not rebuke me as enemy, for that I have
spoken it!
[to the LANDGRAF] Do you permit me, sir, to be
herald of his good fortune to him?
LANDGRAF: Tell him of the spell he has wrought,
and God grant him virtue,
that he may undo it aright.
WOLFRAM: When you strove with us in blithe song,
sometimes victorious against our lays,
anon defeated through our art,
one prze there was that you alone succeeded in winning.
Was it by magic or by pure might
that you achieved the miracle
or captivating the most virtuous of maids
by your singing filled with joy and sorrow?
For when, in haughtiness, you left us,
her heart closed to our song;
we saw her cheeks grow pale,
she ever shunned our circle.
Oh, return, you valiant Singer,
let not your song be far from ours.
Let her no longer be absent from our festivals,
let her star shine on us once more!
SINGERS except WOLFRAM: Be one of us, Heinrich, return to us!
Have done with dissension and strife!
Let our lays ring out in unison,
and brothers let us call ourselves from henceforth.
WOLFRAM: Oh, return, you valiant Singer!
Oh, return!
Let our lays ring out in unison,
and brothers let us call ourselves from henceforth.
LANDGRAF: Oh, return, you valiant Singer!
Have done with dissension and strife!
TANNHÄUSER [deeply moved, embraces WOLFRAM and warmly]: To her! To her! Oh, lead me to her!
Ha, how I recognize it again,
the lovely world that I renounced!
The heavens look down upon me,
the meadows sparkle, richly decked!
The spring, the spring
with a thousand lovely sounds
has entered into my soul, rejoicing!
In sweet impetuous urgency
my heart cries aloud:
To her, to her!
Lead me to her!
LANDGRAF and SINGERS: He whom we had lost is remaining!
A miracle has brought him hither!
Glory be to the sweet power
that has charmed his arrogance away!
Now may the high-born lady's ear
once more harken to our lays!
In joyous animated tones
the song goes up from every breast!

During the preceding, the whole of the LANDGRAF's hunting party, including falconers etc., has gathered onstage. The hunters blow their horns. The whole valley is now filled by the ever-growing hunting party. The LANDGRAF and THE SINGERS turn to the hunters. The LANDGRAF sounds his horn and is answered by loud blasts and baying of dogs. The LANDGRAF and THE SINGERS mount horses that have been brought to them from the Wartburg. The curtain falls.

Gottlob Frick (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Fritz Wunderlich (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Rudolf Gonszar (b), Biterolf; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Gerhard Unger (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Reiner Süss (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Hans Hopf (t), Tannhäuser; Orchestra of the Deutsche Staatsoper, Franz Konwitschny, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 17-21, 1960 [audio link]

And while this recording -- from which we've already heard a couple of baritone Herbert Janssen's bits -- shows both its age and the conditions under which this not-quite-complete recording of Tannhäuser was made at the 1930 Bayreuth Festival (imagine how unimaginable such a project must have seemed at the time), I can't resist throwing it in. I think it remains of considerably more than historical value.

Ivar Andrésen (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Géza Belti-Pilinszky (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Georg von Tschurtschenthaler (b), Biterolf; Herbert Janssen (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Joachim Sattler (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Carl Stralendorf (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Sigismund Pilinszky (t), Tannhäuser; Bayreuth Festival (1930) Orchestra, Karl Elmendorff, cond. EMI, recorded 1930 [audio link]

Finally, another performance from which we've heard some baritone bits -- in George London's case, as with Friedrich Schorr, an authentic Wagnerian Heldenbariton. (He has some pretty spiffy collaborators here too, notably Ramón Vinay in the title role and Rudolf Kempe conducting.)

Jerome Hines (bs), Landgraf Hermann; Giulio Gari (t), Walther von der Vogelweide; Clifford Harvuot (b), Biterolf; George London (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Paul Franke (t), Heinrich der Schreiber; Norman Scott (bs), Reinmar von Zweter; Ramón Vinay (t), Tannhäuser; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, cond. Live performance, Jan. 29, 1955 [audio link]

THE TANNHÄUSER SERIES CONCLUDES HERE

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Labels: Sunday Classics, Tannhäuser, Wagner