Tim Albery's Tannhäuser gets a second revival at the ROH

Venusberg

Lise Davidsen (Elisabeth)

Ekaterina Gubanova (Venus) and Stefan Vinke (Tannhäuser)

Stefan Vinke (Tannhäuser) and Gerald Finley (Wolfram von Eschenbach)

By Mark Valencia, 31 January 2023

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“the solo singing was exceptional, with Lise Davidsen in glorious voice as the tragic Elisabeth”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 29 January 2023

Wagner, Tannhäuser

The Royal Opera

Sebastian Weigle, Conductor

Tim Albery, Director

Michael Levine, Set Designer

Jon Morrell, Costume Designer

David Finn, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera Chorus

Norbert Ernst, Tannhäuser

Lise Davidsen, Elisabeth

Ekaterina Gubanova, Venus

Gerald Finley, Wolfram von Eschenbach

Mika Kares, Landgraf Hermann

Ólafur Sigurdarson, Biterolf

Egor Zhuravskii, Walther von der Vogelweide

Jasmin Vardimon, Choreography

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

Ermonela Jaho returns in triumph to The Royal Opera’s Traviata

Mark Valencia, 8th January

Richard Eyre’s 32-year-old production is rarely out of The Royal Opera’s repertoire for more than a few months at a time, but this particular revival proves very special.

*****

Turandot drowned in an orchestral tsunami at The Royal Opera

David Karlin, 15th December

Andrei Șerban’s 40 year old take on Puccini's tale of the ice princess largely stands the test of time, but Netrebko and Eyvazov are short of their best form.

***11

More reviews...

Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.

Tim Albery's Tannhäuser gets a second revival at the Royal Opera House