Photo Journal: Tannhäuser in Its L.A. Opera Premiere (Viewer Discretion Advised)

By Matthew Westphal
February 26, 2007

James Conlon wants to make Los Angeles a center of top-level Wagner performance. He has gotten a start on that ambition this season, his first season as music director of Los Angeles Opera, conducting the company's first staging of Tannhäuser, which opened on Saturday (February 24) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Ian Judge directs the production — of which we offer a few glimpses below. Tenor Peter Seiffert stars as the titular knight, torn between chaste, virtuous love and the carnal delights of Venus's mountain abode. Lioba Braun portrays Venus, with Petra-Maria Schnitzer as the unsullied Elisabeth. Franz-Josef Selig sings the role of Elisabeth's uncle, the Landgrave Hermann, with Martin Gantner as Wolfram von Eschenbach, Tannhäuser's rival for the love of Elisabeth.

Tannhäuser receives six more performances from February 28 to March 18. Details and tickets are available at www.laopera.com — where there is a warning stating that "Viewer discretion [is] advised: This production contains nudity and strong sexual content."

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All photos by Robert Millard, courtesy of Los Angeles Opera.