Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg

Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg ("Tannhäuser and the Minnesingers' Contest at Wartburg") is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner (1813-1883)[1].

Widely known simply as Tannhäuser.

The original text

First performed on 19 October 1845 in the Königliches Hoftheater, Dresden. The opera was substantially amended by the composer for a special 1861 performance by the Paris Opéra on 13 March 1861 at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra and in 1875 again altered slightly, this time for a production in Vienna, the last to be carried out under Wagner's personal supervision.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1899: Performed and taken on a tour the South African cities and towns by the visiting Arthur Rousbey Grand English Opera Company, under the management of Frank de Jong and Herbert Flemming, appearing in Cape Town's Opera House in the second half of the year.

1913: Presented by the Quinlan Opera Company for the Wagner Festival in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.

1932: Presented in Johannesburg, conducted by John Connell.

1948: Produced in Afrikaans by John Connell.

2000: Presented by Cape Town Opera (23 September – 7 October)

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannh%C3%A4user_(opera)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.406-7,

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

Hilde Roos. 2012. 'Indigenisation and history: how opera in South Africa became South African opera'. Acta Academica Supplementum. 2012(1).

Go to ESAT Bibliography