Dim and dimmer: "Tannhäuser" at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Act II of Tannhäuser
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

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Who: Lyric Opera of Chicago
What: Wagner's Tannhäuser
When: February 9-March 6, 2015
Where: Civic Opera House, Chicago

I have a dream. I dream that some day I'll be able to walk into an opera house and not be faced with a production in which the stage director has imposed some sort of high concept on the piece that is either irrelevant to or openly contradictory to the intentions of the composer and librettist. Alas, as the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Wagner's "Tannhäuser" demonstrates, that's still a dream.

For those of you not familiar with it, "Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg Castle" (to quote the full title), first performed in 1845 and revised in 1861 and 1875, concerns the titular medieval knight/minstrel who, after months of libidinous frolicking with Venus in her subterranean grotto, becomes spiritually weary and returns to Wartburg castle, where he had won both the singing contests and the heart of Elisabeth, niece of Hermann, the Landgraf of Thuringia and lord of the castle. In the heat of a singing competition in which the goal is to compose the best song on the true nature of love, he reveals where he has been for the last several months. His only hope of salvation, he learns, is a pilgrimage to Rome and a pardon from the Pope.

The Venusberg ballet
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

All does not go as planned, and while Tannhäuser finally achieves his salvation, it comes at the cost of both his own life and Elisabeth's.

Wagner, who wrote his own libretto, based on a variety of sources, set the action in a semi-mythical version of the 14th century, in which the prosaic reality of Wartburg could co-exist with the fantastic world of Classical legend. Stage director Tim Albery, in his Lyric debut, has elected to jettison all that and instead move the action to what appears to be a contemporary guerrilla camp in Afghanistan. The Wartburg grand hall in the second act becomes, in the hands of set designer Michael Levine, a ruined theatre complete with a collapsed proscenium and the third act—originally set in the Wartburg valley in autumn—appears to be taking place on top of the flattened ruins of the hall under a blanket of snow.

Venus' domain is represented by a gilt false proscenium arch with scarlet drapes that flown in from above. She and her attendants are decked out in slinky black gowns. The residents of Wartburg, by contrast, are in drab earth tones and look like refugees. And everyone is so dimly lit that facial expressions were often difficult to discern, even from our excellent seats on the orchestra floor.

John Relyea and Amber Wagner
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

None of this serves the material very well. The lack of visual interest and the often static staging—there's a great deal of planting of feet and singing downstage—destroys any dramatic momentum. And turning Wartburg into a contemporary armed camp with shabby fighters toting automatic weapons only serves to underline how much (to quote my wife) their moral rigidity resembles that of the Taliban.

Perhaps that was Mr. Albery's point but if so, it was an unnecessarily heavy-handed way to make it. And it's certainly contrary to Wagner's intent.

The one exception to all this is the opening Venusberg orgy sequence. Jasmin Vardimon's energetic, erotically charged choreography perfectly matches Wagner's increasingly frenzied music and is an ideal introduction to mezzo-soprano Michaela Schuster's impressively seductive Venus.

The theme of the conflict between sacred and profane love was one to which Wagner, who was certainly guilty of his share of the latter, would return to often in his operas, along with the notion of redemption through love. Not surprisingly, given Wagner's psychology and the time in which he lived, that redemption usually involved selfless sacrifice on the part of the female lead.

In "Tannhäuser" that thankless task falls to Elisabeth. The role isn't especially large but it's dramatically crucial. Happily, Lyric has mezzo Amber Wagner in the role. Her big, luscious voice is an attention grabber and makes all of her scenes compelling. In her program bio, she is quoted as describing Elisabeth's music as "achingly simple, yet substantial and full of its own longing." You can hear all that and more in her performance.

Gerald Finley
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

Bass-baritone Gerald Finley shines as well as Wolfram, Tannhäuser's friend who carries a torch for Elisabeth. His "O du, mein Abendstern" ("O evening star," often performed as a standalone piece) was a high point of the final act. John Relyea, who was such an imposing presence as Henry VIII in Lyric's "Anna Bolena" this season, radiates gravitas once again as Hermann. And soprano Angela Mannino has a nice cameo as the voice of the Shepherd, whose simple song is the first thing Tannhäuser hears on his return from Venusberg in the first act.

I haven't said anything about the South African tenor and Lyric veteran Johan Botha, this production's Tannhäuser, for the simple reason that I didn't see him perform. The night we attended, the role was sung by Richard Decker, an American tenor brought in as a last-minute substitute while Mr. Botha recovers from what the program describes as "a severe throat infection." Mr. Decker, at least when we saw him, seemed not entirely comfortable in the role and had noticeably less vocal power than his co-stars. This was especially apparent in his second act duet with Ms. Wagner.

As this is being written, Lyric's "Tannhäuser" has only two more performances (March 2 and 6), so I don't know whether Mr. Botha will be returning to the role or not.

Act III of Tannhäuser
Photo: Robert Kusel

If I have major misgivings about this production's dramatic direction, I have none whatsoever about its musical direction. Under the capable baton of Lyric's music director and principal conductor Sir Andrew Davis, Wagner's mammoth score got a well thought out and polished reading, with good tempo choices and excellent vocal/instrumental balance. Working with a substitute lead must have been a challenge, but everyone clearly rose to the occasion. The Act II "entry of the guests" (often heard in a stand-alone concert piece), with its offstage brass and full chorus, was a joy to hear.

The Lyric Opera season at the Civic Opera House continues with its production of "Tosca" and Mieczyslaw Weinberg's "The Passenger" in March. It wraps up with Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" in April and May, followed by a special recital with pianist Lang Lang on May 9th. For more information: lyricopera.org.