| Tannh�user |
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| LIBRETO |
| Tannh�user's libretto offers many clues into these wildly different women. In the opera's stormy first scene, Venus' emotions waver between anger and supplication, whereas Elisabeth's dedication to Tannh�user remains consistent throughout the opera. Venus is a tempermental, womanly goddess, while Elisabeth is the paragon of the devoted Wagnerian girl who redeems her lover through her own death. The manner in which these women speak about themselves further distinguishes them. Venus lets her ego get the better of her, frequently boasting her status as "der Liebe G�ttin," while Elisabeth quietly admits "Im Traum bin ich und t�r'ger als ein Kind" ("I live in a dream, as foolish as a child"). These women also interact with Tannh�user in different ways. Venus' phrases occasionally overlap with Tannh�user's, but the two rarely sing together. Elisabeth, however, sings a grand duet with her lover, sharing similar text and sentiments. Addressing Tannh�user, Venus employs a vocabulary of words, ranging from "Gelibeter" to "Bet�rter," "s��er Freund" to "Bettler." Elisabeth, however, only uses three words in direct address to Tannh�user: "Heinrich," "ungl�cksel'ge" and the simple, tender "du." One can infer from such name-calling that Venus' love is one of artifice and semantics, while Elisabeth, who calls Tannh�user by his given name, loves with more honesty and ardor.
The post-Tristan Paris Version's use of harmony distinguishes Venus from Elisabeth even further. Replacing insistent chords that seldom stray from F-sharp and remind certain listeners of Elisabeth's grand aria with difficult-to-analyze orchestral wandering, the Paris Venus is even more seductive. While Venus sings twisted, chromatic lines over such technical wizardry as the Tristan chord (a half-diminished seventh), Elisabeth's harmonies are much simpler. She sings almost no chromatic phrases and her extended passages remain much more tonally centered. When singing with Tannh�user, Elisabeth favors the intimate sixths that suggested true closeness for Bellini, while Venus' vocal lines tend to contradict Tannh�user's. Elisabeth's two arias are in G and G-flat, very traditional keys for soprano arias, whereas "Geliebter, komm'" is in F-sharp, a key rarer to opera. Wagner's orchestrations demarcate the two women even further. Venus sings long, high passages over tutti chords and winds and brasses usually double her vocal line. Her wildest outbursts demand a combination of beauty and force and are sung over a full orchestra at high volume, taxing even the most strenuous singers. The orchestration of Elisabeth's music is very different. Many of her phrases are unaccompanied, again another probable courtesy to Johanna Wagner's young voice. The orchestra does not double her phrases and she seldom sings over the brass. While the orchestral radiance of "Dich theure Halle" demands a certain amount of vocal heft, "Allm�cht'ge Jungfrau" features sparse accompaniment, allowing Elisabeth to spin the softest pianissimo and still be heard. The entrance of a contrapuntal bass clarinet before "Doch, konnt' ich jeden Felt nich b�sen" is the most advanced moment of orchestration in Elisabeth's music and is of great beauty. In Wagner, soft playing on solo wind instruments usually signifies youth and naivete, and the inclusion of this device in Elisabeth's final moments reminds the listener that she is not that much older or wiser than the Shepherd of the first act. Wagner's assignment of musical form further characterizes the two women. Elisabeth is given clear set pieces, such as her two arias and grand duet with Tannh�user, while Venus dodges traditional musical forms, singing mostly in interruptions and exclamations. Her musical paragraphs, even "Geliebter, komm'" can hardly be considered arias. Elisabeth, a simple human, does not abandon convention, while goddess Venus sings in Wagner's fluid, more dramatic style. Wagner's orchestral writing acutely distinguishes the womanly, passionate Venus from the young, simple Elisabeth./ Source |
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| Roles Tannh�user, a Minnesinger tenor Elisabeth, the Landgrave's niece soprano Venus mezzo-soprano or soprano Wolfram, a Minnesinger baritone Herrmann, Landgrave of Thuringia bass Walther von der Vogelweide, a Minnesinger tenor Biterolf, a Minnesinger bass Heinrich der Schreiber, a Minnesinger tenor Reinmar von Zweter, a Minnesinger bass A young shepherd soprano Four noble pages soprano, alto Nobles, knights, ladies, pilgrims, sirens, naiads, nymphs, bacchants; In Paris version, also the Three Graces, youths, cupids, satyrs, and fauns |
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