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The Forbidden Planet Venus Bayreuth
Probebühne 4
07/25/2025 - & July 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 2025, August 1, 2, 3 2025
Richard Wagner: “Tannhäuser für Kinder”
Markus Suihkonen (Landgraf Hermann), Corby Welch (Tannhäuser), Michael Kupfer-Radecky (Wolfram), Martin Koch (Walther von der Vogelweide), Felix Pacher (Biterolf), Dorothea Herbert (Elisabeth), Alexandra Ionis (Venus)
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Azis Sadikovic (conductor)
Nada Zimmermann (Director), Pauline Heitemann, Hannah Lucie Sammann (Sets & Costumes), Clara M. Richter (Dramaturgy), Peter Younes (Lighting), Marko Zdralek (Musical adaptation)
(© Bayreuther Festspiele)
Opera for children? Is it a viable idea? Can children appreciate such a stylized art form? I remember being kicked out of opera appreciation class in my early teens for giggling on hearing a soprano emit alarmingly high notes. This is despite having seen Rigoletto, age eight, in my native Cairo. That first opera had made quite an impression, for its exotic costumes, sets, voices and above all, the intrigue. Add to that the 1869 Khedivial Opera House’s posh atmosphere, replete with elegant women in décolleté evening dresses.
It’s important that art be accessible, as it’s essential for a child’s growing mind and spirit. The question is whether a child’s appreciation is dependent on simplification and that it be linked to relatable concepts. I remember a Bugs Bunny cartoon set to Tannhäuser’s overture, where Elmer sings to Bugs Bunny disguised as Brünnhilde “Return, my love, a longing burns inside me.” It was the first melody by Wagner that stuck in my young mind. Years later, I was elated when I heard the original and recognized the tune. Likewise, Walt Disney’s Fantasia and the Muppet Show’s abridged versions of opera were great favourites.
At university, I was elated whenever I travelled to Germany, as opera houses there had (and still have) reduced student rates. I saw my first Tristan und Isolde seated in a front orchestra seat in Munich for under $10. Whereas I felt like an oddity in my adoptive city of Montreal, I was ecstatic to meet people my age and younger in opera theatres and symphony halls across Germany. They had the benefit of an early introduction to classical music. Since then, similar programmes, albeit on a much more modest scale, have been introduced in Montreal.
I was extremely curious to find out how the venerable Bayreuth Festival would introduce Wagner’s operas to the young. I was delighted to learn that they had a programme “Wagner für Kinder” that gives several matinée performances of a selected opera every festival. Last year it was Der fliegende Holländer. The huge surprise was the very young age of the audience: most were between six and eight, accompanied by parents, grandparents or elder siblings.
This year’s offering, Tannhäuser, contains an important erotic element. How to eschew such an inappropriate topic. Director Nada Zimmermann had the brilliant idea of making Venus both a girl who has gone missing and also a forbidden planet. Landgraf Hermann, also known as Manni to friends, ruler of the land and father of Princess Elisabeth, has forbidden interplanetary exploration and specifically to Venus. Thus, Zimmermann has introduced the notion of the forbidden without referring to sex.
Tannhäuser has broken the Landgraf’s rules and gone exploring. The shortened opera opens to him, dressed in fantastical green attire (perhaps intentionally channeling Kermit the Frog), enjoying the exotic charms of Planet Venus, but has become bored. The girl Venus tries to cheer him up, but to no avail; Tannhäuser decides to return home. A portion of the overture has been retained, segments of Tannhäuser’s long exchange with Venus are used: Tannhäuser’s “Zu viel! Zu viel” and Venus’s attempts at keeping him and final protestation “Zieh hin! Wahnbetröter.” About fifteen minutes of Act I’s music was used.
The bulk of Tannhäuser, children’s edition, is cribbed from Act II. There’s a song competition, whose juror is Elisabeth, winner of the previous year’s edition. Tannhäuser arrives in the middle of the preparations and is invited to join. The three other competitors are the shy Wolfram, reminiscent in temperament and attire to the Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man, an exuberant Biterolf, clad as a white hedgehog, and a rather dour Walter von der Vogelweide, evocative of Adam from Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988), with an extravagant top hat.
By making the contestants reminiscent of familiar characters, the children could better relate to them. By giving each distinct characteristics, they could identify with their favourite. Finally, in a Brechtian attempt to break the “fourth wall”, the public was invited to help Elisabeth judge the contestants via an “applausometer” that measured the intensity of their appreciation.
When it came to Tannhäuser, he extolled the beauty of the Planet Venus, first to the incredulity of the Landgraf and the other men. Venus, the long‑lost citizen, returns in the middle of the contest to affirm Tannhäuser’s claims regarding the safety of the forbidden planet. All rejoice at Venus’s return, and the Landgraf’s edict forbidding visiting the planet is overturned.
No sex, no sprouting staff and no Elisabeth dying of grief. Here, at last, is a shortened, albeit sanitized version that makes sense, and that retains the essence of the story.
I occasionally observed the faces of the children and their parents; everyone was riveted by what they saw and heard.
The singers are professional opera singers, many of whom perform smaller roles in this year’s edition of the festival. German soprano Dorothea Herbert sings Helmwige, one of the Valkyries, in this year’s edition of Bayreuth’s Die Walküre and the Third Norn in Götterdämmerung. Though she didn’t sing Elisabeth’s most famous aria, “Dich teure Halle,” she sang a portion of Act III’s “Allmächt’ge Jungfrau, hör mein Flehen.” Her soprano is a bright and pure lyric soprano, ideal for lighter Wagner roles such as Elsa, Elisabeth and Senta. Indeed, Herbert will be Senta in Toulon this fall. Given her considerable stage presence and charisma, I expect to hear more from her in future.
American tenor Corby Welch is an experienced singer who’s sung Siegmund, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Erik in addition to other leading roles throughout Europe. His dramatic tenor has an appealing squillo which is especially appropriate in the role of Tannhäuser. He also seemed to have a ball performing a zanier version of a role he has sung in “serious” productions. It’s quite a luxury to have such an established artist perform in this children’s production, but this is the whole point of children’s programming in an ideal world: to ensure an indelible impression is made on young people.
Berlin-based Moldovan mezzo Alexandra Ionis sings Siegrune in this year’s edition of Bayreuth’s Die Walküre, and the Second Norn in Götterdämmerung. Her rich, velvety mezzo is most suited for Verdian roles, and she’ll be singing Eboli in Don Carlo in Bari this fall and has sung Azucena and Ulrica and several other major mezzo roles. Her Venus was deliberately over‑the‑top for the benefit of this performance’s young audience, who are not likely to forget her interpretation, which pleasantly contrasted with Elisabeth’s poised characterization.
Heard a few years ago as Captain Simone Trovai in Turin’s production of Korngold’s Violanta, German baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky had perfectly portrayed Violanta’s tortured husband, a rigid man, incapable of spontaneity. Though he only sang a shortened version of Wolfram’s glorious aria, “O du holder Abendstern”, Tannhäuser’s most popular aria, he impressed with a moving interpretation and a beautiful high baritone. He played the shy, self‑doubting Wolfram brilliantly.
German tenor Martin Koch, who sang Walther von der Vogelweide, specializes in character tenor roles where he is able to convey a lot in a compact role. It certainly showed in his present portrayal. It was fun how exuberant he made the small role. He interacted with the public, distributing stars to the children to increase the votes for him in the contest. A versatile singer, equally at home in twentieth century operas as he is in operetta, Koch is an admirable singing actor.
Young Austrian bass Felix Pacher is an up‑and‑coming singer. Despite his short lines, he impressed with both his rich voice and characterization of a dour Biterolf. Though not singing a major role, young Finnish bass Markus Suihkonen was a revelation as Landgraf Hermann. In addition to an impressive, rich voice, this young man has charisma by the bucketful. His talking voice is mesmerizing, and I can imagine him as an outstanding Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte. In addition, he is an impressive actor with impeccable diction. Watch out! This young Finn is likely to follow the footsteps of compatriots Matti Salminen (b.1945) and Martti Talvela (1935‑1989) and become one of opera’s leading basses in the near future.
Austrian conductor Azis Sadikovic led Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt masterfully. Given the beautiful sound they produced, one wished they could have played the entire opera or at least the entire overture. The venue was a rehearsal space, Probebühne 4, that accommodated about 250 spectators. The orchestra played behind the stage, unseen by the audience. Though it is fascinating to see an orchestra in action, this was a wise decision, as it would have distracted the young audience.
Musically, this was an excellent performance, with staging worthy of many full‑fledged productions, including here at Bayreuth. The one drawback was that, given the beauty of the orchestra and singers, it left me craving for a full Tannhäuser. Unfortunately, the opera has not been announced as part of Bayreuth’s 2026 programming, but I will try to find a good production of that opera soon!
Ossama el Naggar
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