On another thread I threatened promised to do a little write-up of the Tannhäuser I saw last night in Hagen. 

Perhaps the most striking thing is the ticket price - €31.20 for orchestra stalls row 3 middle.  I think that means the whole trip, cheap flight, Ibis hotel and train fares comes in comfortably cheaper than a comparable seat at the Garden. 

Of course you don´t get John Tomlinson, Kurt Rydl, Lisa Gasteen etc but this is no Amateur Operatic Society.  Most of the voices were more than adequate and a chap I´ve never heard of before - Frank Dolphin Wong - was superb as Wolfram.  This was clear even to my untrained ear and was confirmed when his applause was easily louder than Tannhäuser´s (Dario Walendowski) or Elisabeth´s (Dagmar Hesse).  The orchestra and chorus were also very good (note to IRF - the Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen are doing a concert with Jon Lord as part of their 100th(?) birthday celebrations next year.  Feb 14 & 15, I think).

The production was also a lot simpler than most at the ROH - and no bad thing, say I.  Most of Act I was basically soft porn, but it could hardly be called gratuitous, given the plot.  Act II was done to a backdrop of a concert hall (I was trying to work out whether or not it was Theater Hagen but I suspect it was just ´Concert Hall Type 1´from standard scenery.  And Act III opened with Elisabeth in front of a gigantic statue of the BVM.  I´ve always wondered about the theology of "allmacht´ge Jungfrau" - sounds heretical to me - even from an RC  point of view; and this just confirmed it.

All in all a very good evening despite the rude audience members mentioned elsewhere.  Anyone who´s in the area when it´s on could do worse than going along for a look.   

It´s finally time to head for the airport.  Back at work for one day tomorrow then off to Paris for the races first thing Saturday morning.