TANNHÄUSER - SEX AND RELIGION

Seminar at the Rosedale Golf Club
19 & 20 January, 2008
10.00 am to 4.00 pm
$250.00 including 2 lunches
Register here

 

 

Wagner's fifth opera (after Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot, Rienzi, and the Flying Dutchman) was first performed in Dresden in 1845. An amended version was famously and disastrously performed in Paris in 1861. Both versions of the work explore the polar opposites of man's conception of woman as (a) a pure idol to be placed on a pedestal and worshipped from afar and/or (b) a desirable sexual partner, jointly conspiring to gratify animalistic desires. Framing the work are the culturally-significant anxieties and inhibitions of male-dominated religious leaders.

What you will learn in this Seminar ...

• How Wagner continued his exploration of the "artist-outsider" in society
• Why all of Wagner's works reflect his autobiographical journey
• Why the Paris production was sabotaged by the Jockey Club
• How this work influenced Wagner's later development as an artist
  

Note -- the following weekend, Canada's own Russell Braun will make his debut in the role of Wolfram at San Diego Opera. Come with us to support him in his endeavour - and also to see David Hockney's famous production of Tristan and Isolde in Los Angeles. Click here for a link to this tour.