COMPOSERS: Wagner
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Tannhäuser
PERFORMER: Bavarian Radio SO/Haitink
CATALOGUE NO: EMI 640 8002
In his 1985 set, Bernard Haitink charts a leisurely course through Wagner's Tannhäuser (the ‘Dresden’ version, as revised in 1860) which thus fires on less than a full set of cylinders. Best of the principals is Lucia Popp’s fresh Elisabeth. Waltraud Meier’s Venus is potent yet sounds a touch stretched. Klaus König’s divided minstrel is hefty but bland, Kurt Moll’s Landgrave firm and Bernd Weikl’s Wolfram both warm and humane. George Hall