Tannhäuser

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Tannhäuser

opera by Wagner

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July 14, 2026

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Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser (1845) is based on the legend of a 13th-century German minnesinger. The story follows Tannhäuser's journey from a life of earthly pleasure with the goddess Venus to a pilgrimage seeking forgiveness for his sins. When the Pope denies him absolution, Tannhäuser returns to Venus, his fate uncertain as his pilgrim's staff miraculously blooms.1

Wagner's Tannhäuser is a significant work in his development of the music drama, a concept where all artistic elements unite to serve the drama. While it retains some characteristics of grand opera, it also showcases Wagner's evolving style, including the use of leitmotifs and a focus on orchestral power over vocal display.2

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Lucile Grahn
…several of his operas, including Tannhäuser (1873), for which she arranged the bacchanal. She died in Munich in 1907, leaving a very substantial legacy to the city, which honoured her memory by naming a street after her.
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…several of his operas, including Tannhäuser (1873), for which she arranged the bacchanal. She died in Munich in 1907, leaving a very substantial legacy to the city, which honoured her memory by naming a street after her.
Read More

Richard Wagner
Early life
On October 19, 1845, Tannhäuser (based, like all his future works, on Germanic legends) was coolly received but soon proved a steady attraction; after this, each new work achieved public popularity despite persistent hostility from many critics.
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On October 19, 1845, Tannhäuser (based, like all his future works, on Germanic legends) was coolly received but soon proved a steady attraction; after this, each new work achieved public popularity despite persistent hostility from many critics.
Read More

opera
Wagner
…in two large-scale transitional operas, Tannhäuser (1845) and Lohengrin (1850). Tannhäuser again displays some characteristics of grand opera (particularly in the revision that Wagner prepared for a performance in Paris in 1861). Lohengrin is less spectacular but is still rooted in folklore and Germanic legend and is imbued with allegorical…
Read More
…in two large-scale transitional operas, Tannhäuser (1845) and Lohengrin (1850). Tannhäuser again displays some characteristics of grand opera (particularly in the revision that Wagner prepared for a performance in Paris in 1861). Lohengrin is less spectacular but is still rooted in folklore and Germanic legend and is imbued with allegorical…
Read More

Wartburg
…the story for his opera Tannhäuser (1845). From 1485 the castle and the surrounding lands belonged to the Ernestine dukes of Saxony. The elector Frederick III of Saxony sheltered Martin Luther in the Wartburg from May 1521 to March 1522, and Luther began his German translation of the original Greek…
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…the story for his opera Tannhäuser (1845). From 1485 the castle and the surrounding lands belonged to the Ernestine dukes of Saxony. The elector Frederick III of Saxony sheltered Martin Luther in the Wartburg from May 1521 to March 1522, and Luther began his German translation of the original Greek…
Read More