MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


DVD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger



Johann NESTROY (1801-1862) and Carl BINDER (1816-1860)
Tannhäuser in 80 Minuten (1857)
Robert Meyer (actor and singer); Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln (Peter Uhler (violin), Valmir Ziu (violin), Günter Haumer (accordion), Peter Havlicek (counter-guitar))
Production: Robert Meyer
rec. live, Wiener Volksoper, 4, 14 March 2008
Picture format: 16:9, Sound formats: 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital. 5.1 Surround
PHOENIX EDITION 804
[85:00]
Experience Classicsonline


As can be easily understood from the header this is no “pocket-version” of Wagner’s opera but a completely self-contained parody, based on Wagner’s work but with music by Carl Binder – mostly adapted from Wagner’s score. As to Johann Nepomuk Nestroy’s role it is not clear that he actually wrote the text, even though he was known ‘for writing caustic pieces’. But he was also an opera singer, who sang Sarastro at the Vienna Hofoper in 1822, but obviously lacked the important low notes and changed the pitch of his voice, next year singing Max in Der Freischütz, which of course is a tenor role.

Anyway, two months after the Vienna premiere he staged this parody in his Carltheater. Tannhäuser in this version is banned from the singers’ hall at Wartburg to a stage where the ‘Future Opera is being cultivated / the easiest way to ruin your voice …’ Wagner’s music was even at this early stage of his development ‘the music of the future’ but the mockery is as much against the notion that Wagner’s music has no melody, that it is harmful for singers as well as listeners. Certain aspects of the Tannhäuser story have been disposed of, thus all the religious references are gone – obviously since the censorship objected and the text had to be re-written. Whether this was Nestroy’s work rather than creating the whole manuscript is open to debate. A certain doctor from Breslau named Wollheim had written a farce along the same lines a few years earlier. It was even printed and he died shortly afterwards. Maybe Nestroy had bought the rights from Wollheim’s heirs.

The present production was originally played at Vienna’s Burgtheater during the 2005/2006 season and was a great success and last season it was staged at the Vienna Volksoper, from where this recording comes. Robert Meyer re-elaborated the piece further – to what extent it differs from Nestroy’s version I don’t know and this is, honestly, beside the point. Suffice it to say that this is a highly entertaining performance. It is a one-man-show with Robert Meyer playing and singing all the roles as well as being the narrator. The image from the DVD box above shows that he does all this with small means: no sets, no costumes, just a few attributes to illustrate the characters. Knowing Wagner’s is not necessary, even though the parody becomes more obvious if one does. It also helps to be reasonably versed in German but those who are not will be able to follow the play through English or French subtitles.

Robert Meyer is certainly a tremendous actor and there isn’t a dull moment throughout the 80 minutes. He is well supported by the four musicians who, besides making the most of the clever arrangements, also function as opera chorus.

Any Wagner performance can be a heavy meal for an outsider. I am not sure if this performance is the best way to convert the uninformed but at least open-minded non-Wagnerians should be curious to find out what the real thing is like. Good sound and good pictures and as I already said.

Göran Forsling


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.