Onstage for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tannhäuser excerpts: Marina Prudenskaya, Amber Wagner (seated), conductor Andris Nelsons, Klaus Florian Vogt, Christian Gerhaher. Aram Boghosian photograph
Tannhäuser: Overture and Bacchanale from Act 1, Act. 3
Boston
Boston Symphony Orchestra
2/2/2023
The Boston Symphony Orchestra continued its tradition of performing opera in concert, with excerpts from Wagner’s Tannhäuser Feb. 2 in Symphony Hall. The program, featuring four prolific Wagner interpreters as soloists, opened with the Overture and Bacchanale music from Act 1, followed after intermission by Act 3.
American soprano Amber Wagner sang as the devoted Elisabeth, and German tenor Klaus Florian Vogt portrayed the role of the lost and wavering minstrel Tannhäuser. German baritone Christian Gerhaher sang as their stalwart companion Wolfram, and Russian mezzo Marina Prudenskaya made a striking appearance as Tannhäuser’s temptress Venus. All four soloists have previously realized their roles on some of opera’s most prominent stages.
Andris Nelsons conducted the unstaged performance, and choral director James Burton prepared the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
The convoluted drama of Tannhäuser’s irresolute search for redemption goes missing in an condensed performance. But the culminating act of the opera focuses tightly on the psychological turmoil that defines the protagonist, exploring Tannhäuser’s anguish.
Excerpting just the final act, after the instrumental introduction from Act 1, works exquisitely in performance. The focus shifts subtly from Wagner’s intense theatrics to subtleties of the libretto, and the ingenuity and richness of the instrumental score.
Tannhäuser has faced his choices, without conclusion. Torn between the carnal love of Venus and the pure love of Elisabeth, his vow to be absolved of the flesh and find forgiveness has been rejected. After his papal humiliation he returns home, unbalanced and uncertain.
Tannhäuser’s extended “Rome narrative”—“Inbrunst im Herzen” (With such devotion in my heart), when he recounts his long pilgrimage to the pope and his return in shame—serves both as a “previously on Tannhäuser” summary, but also as a vehicle for the dramatic power of tenor Klaus Florian Vogt.
Vogt sang as a suitably unhinged seeker. In fiery fashion, he nearly overpowered the house with volume, while exemplifying the role. His instrument, stormy and unpredictable, often showed appropriately rugged tonal edges.
Vogt’s was not the only voice that could have filled a vaster chamber. Gerhaher fulfilled Wolfram’s role with a forceful lyric baritone, his accessible, open tone mimicking his character’s generosity of spirit. His exquisite “O du, mein holder Abendstern” (Oh you, my fair evening star), emphasizing his devotion to Elisabeth, was the evening’s most thoroughly realized aria. Gerhaher sang compassionately, whether ppp over gentle pizzicato accompaniment, or in full voice while confronting his irresolute friend.
Amber Wagner, another powerhouse instrument, nearly overwhelmed her role as Elisabeth. Her brokenhearted prayer, “Allemacht’ge Jungfrau, hor mein flehen” (Almighty virgin, hear my prayer), yearned for empathy but sounded far too stridently forceful.
Prudenskaya sang only “Willkommen, ungetreuer Mann!” (Welcome, unfaithful man) in Act 3, a fleeting, mirage-like return of the temptress Venus. But it stood out. Prudenskaya added her own startling colors with another powerful instrument, obliterating the lines between mezzo, contralto and soprano.
The nimble Tanglewood Festival Chorus sang superlatively. In this unstaged version, the theatrical power of the chorus’s entrances remained exclusively in the imagination. But both men’s and women’s voices—separately and together—filled the recurring Pilgrims’s Song and other moments with nostalgia and warmth.
Even in the presence of these uniformly powerful singers, the instrumental selections from Act 1, along with Wagner’s imaginative orchestration throughout, highlighted the performance.
The Overture and Bacchanale music, performed with the 1875 Vienna edition, unfolded deliberately under Nelsons’s leadership. Offstage sections from Act 3 were subtle, mysterious. Throughout, the exceptional horn and wind sections of the BSO were alert to the many lush, lyrical possibilities that Wagner creates.—Keith Powers