[Met Performance] CID:287150
Tannhäuser {442} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/15/1987.
(Debuts: Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Joseph Cahill, Marcello Cipriano, Paul Coffey, Michael Eggar
Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
January 15, 1987
TANNHÄUSER {442}
Wagner-Wagner
Tannhäuser..............Richard Cassilly
Elisabeth...............Jessye Norman
Wolfram.................Häkan Hagegärd
Venus...................Eva Randová
Hermann.................Jan-Hendrik Rootering [Debut]
Walther.................Gary Lakes
Heinrich................Thomas Booth
Biterolf................Richard J. Clark
Reinmar.................Terry Cook
Shepherd................Dawn Upshaw
Page....................Joseph Cahill [Debut]
Page....................George Caputo
Page....................Marcello Cipriano [Debut]
Page....................Paul Coffey [Debut]
Page....................David Cole
Page....................Michael Eggar [Debut]
Page....................Zachary Taylor [Last performance]
Page....................George Wade
Conductor...............James Levine
Production..............Otto Schenk
Set designer............Günther Schneider-Siemssen
Costume designer........Patricia Zipprodt
Lighting designer.......Gil Wechsler
Choreographer...........Norbert Vesak
Tannhäuser received seven performances this season.
[At the time of his debut, Michael Eggar was billed as Michael Eggers;
the spelling was corrected as of 1/24/1987.]
Review of Bill Zakariasen in the New York Daily News
RICHARD WAGNER'S "Tannhaeuser," still seen in its much-admired Otto Schenk--Gunther Schneider-Siemssen production, re-entered the repertory of the Metropolitan Opera Thursday night. Two singers returned to familiar roles-Richard Cassilly as Tannhaeuser and Hakan Hagegard as Wolfram, and James Levine again conducted, but otherwise the lineup was largely new.
Chief interest was directed towards soprano Jessye Norman, who sang her first Elisabeth in the house. The role is made to order for her voice-voluminous, wide in range and winningly sympathetic in tone. And it must be said that for a woman of such generous proportions, Norman conducted herself with a truly amazing grace, particularly during her deeply moving last-act pantomime.
German bass Jan-Hendrik Rootering made his Met debut as Landgraf Herrmann. He cut an imposing figure (even though he couldn't perform the miracle of making this character particularly interesting). Mezzo-soprano Eva Randova made a most impressive Venus-as much for her impassioned acting as for the ease with which she encompassed the treacherous vocal writing.
As Tannhaeuser, Cassilly sounded as if he were yet another victim of the flu bug that's going around. Some passages rang out with stentorian splendor, while others turned hoarse and under pitch, or sometimes just didn't come out at all. Nevertheless, Cassilly remains probably the finest current exponent of this role in dramatic terms-the anguished intensity of his portrayal has not been surpassed in this critic's experience.
Hagegard's Wolfram was appealingly youthful in demeanor and notably stronger in vocal projection than before. Gary Lakes also shone well as Walther von der Vogelweide-his bright, well-focused tenor rode the male ensembles in Acts I and II most impressively.