Tölzer Knabenchor

An aging, misanthropic forester named Philipp lives in self-imposed isolation from society. His solitude is disrupted when a social worker arrives with Daniel, the orphaned grandson of Philipp's late sister. As the boy's sole surviving relative, Philipp is legally pressured to assume custody. Though initially reluctant to accept the child, the two had an unexpected emotional awakening.

David Alden's production of Wagner's grand romantic opera was recorded at the National Theatre in Munich, with Bayerische Staatsoper, in September 1994. Shot over three days by leading opera director Brian Large, this recording benefits from the ideal technical conditions made possible by a closed session. Alden, one of the most iconoclastic interpreters of classical opera, stirs up the visionary, erotic, and archetypal elements in Wagner's work. The cold, forbidding aspect of the stylized and predominantly monochrome sets and costumes by Roni Toren and Buki Shiff manifests the strait-jacket of tradition from which Tannhäuser seeks to free himself in this powerful opera.