Belle direction de Sawallisch, Hans Beirer bien lourd en Tannhäuser, hélas, comparé au Wolfram de Victor Conrad Braun et au Landgraf de Martti Talvela. À découvrir Janis Martin en Venus, un peu frêle (d’autant confrontée à Beirer…) – et surtout l’Elisabeth de Sena Jurinac !

It's hard to believe that Hans Beirer was well over 50 when he sang this performance. True, it takes him a while to warm up. There is some grittiness of tone (not inappropriate for Tannhauser anyway), but soon his voice becomes more of a piece and the top rings out like a shaft of sunlight amidst the gloom. He certainly knows what that part is about. His Act Three monologue is searing in its desperation. Victor Braun sings most beautifully as Wolfram, especially in the famous Abendstern song. Jurinac is a superb Elisabeth, not the wallflower that some make her out to be. Her prayer in the last act is a masterclass in how to shape this aria. She is also the only soprano I've ever heard who ends Act Two with a top B-flat! Martin sings Venus with steady tone and an exciting top. I was a little disappointed that she didn't cry out at Tannhauser's invocation of the Virgin in Act One (the Dresden version is used and it's requested in the score), but perhaps the staging precluded that. Talvela sings the Landgraf with distinction and Carol Malone deserves a mention for her lovely Shepherd; she would sing Gretel at the Met a decade later. Sawallisch leads an impassioned performance. The sound is mostly very good, but there is some unfortunate wow and flutter from the source tape halfway through Act Two causing some weird and wobbly chords.

Passionately conducted (albeit in the Dresden version) by Wolfgang Sawallish, this performance grips one from first to last. Hans Beirer was having a good night, sounding much younger than his 57 years. His interpretation is, for my ears, one of the best ever committed to top. Victor Braun's sound has a pronounced grain to it, but this does not prevent him from purveying a wise Wolfram, one who takes some of the starchiness out of "Black ich usher." Sung in magnificent, opalescent tones, Sent Jurinac makes for a very strong Elisabeth: almost too much so. It's a little difficult to imagine this substantive a woman wasting away over Tannhauser. Martti Talvela brings both tonal opulence and verbal acuity to the Landgraf (unlike, say, Josef Greindl, who succeeded *despite* his voice). Too briefly heard, Janis Martin is a fresh and alluring Venus, while Carol Malone is a capital Shepherd and Konrad Peitzke's thoroughly disagreeable Biterolf stands among the minnesingers. The sound is good broadcast mono.