Tannhäuser at HGO: Francesca Zambello's New Staging Marks the Company's Fourth Production of Wagner's Opera

It’s a rare event when Tannhäuser comes to Houston Grand Opera—the company has only mounted Wagner’s medieval epic in three previous productions. Trace the history of the work at HGO, including different directors’ takes on the steamy Venusberg sequence

Conductor: Walter Herbert

Director: Bodo Igesz

Principals: Klara Barlow, Ticho Parly, Wolfgang Anheisser

Trivia: HGO’s first Tannhäuser was the farewell production of general director and conductor Herbert, who co-founded the company in 1955. Decked in bright pink as both Venus and Elisabeth, soprano Barlow was praised by the Houston Chronicle as “voluptuous and abundant in voice.”

Venusberg: At the height of the sexual revolution, HGO leaned into some groovy marketing—the program cover depicted Wagner’s knight as a rockstar, and a flirty ad declared, “Tannhäuser is Hot Stuff!” Igesz’s orgiastic staging of the Venusberg didn’t disappoint, with its psychedelic lighting and dancers in flesh-tone leotards.

Conductor: Julius Rudel

Director: Otto Schenk

Principals: Éva Marton, Klaus König, Walton Grönroos

Trivia: Schenk’s staging, originally created for the Met, was dubbed “massively handsome” by the Chronicle. Soprano Marton sang her final Tannhäuser as Venus and Elisabeth, giving up both roles after her HGO performances.

Venusberg: Schenk returned to a more Romantic aesthetic in his production, with the Venusberg represented as a pastoral grotto. The Post critic was impressed by the atmospheric slide projections, which allowed for scene-changes of “breathtaking theatrical magic.” 

Conductor: John Fiore

Director: Werner Herzog

Principals: Michelle DeYoung, Tina Kiberg, Stig Andersen, Guido Paevatalu

Trivia: The stylized production, created by German film director Herzog, made striking use of color symbolism—red for the sensual Venusberg and pure white for the Wartburg. Seventeen electric fans were placed offstage to blow air in time with the music.

Venusberg: A critic from the Rice Thresher described the scene as “a world of crimson, from the billowing silk curtains hanging from the top of the stage to the red blanket of silk on the ground, gently  undulating from a backstage breeze.”

Condcutor: Erik Nielsen

Director: Francesca Zambello

Principals: Sasha Cooke, Tamara Wilson, Russell Thomas, Luke Sutliff

Trivia: Director Zambello has updated the action to turn-of-the-century America, with the Wartburg represented by a strict, Amish-like society. Tannhäuser is cast as an artist who ventures out into Gilded Age New York City on a kind of rumspringa.

Venusberg: Zambello reenvisions Venus as a socialite and arts patron. Her apartment, standing in for the Venusberg, becomes the site of an artists’ salon