Wagner's Tannhäuser: Complete Opera
This vividly recorded new Tannhäuser has much to recommend it. Daniel  Barenboim's leadership not only keeps things moving so that the somewhat  stilted drama actually takes wing, he elicits some of the most beautiful  playing ever from the Berlin State Opera forces: lush strings; pointed,  crisp brass; reedy, articulate winds. Thomas Hampson's Wolfram is sensitive  and handsomely sung, if on a slightly small scale; Rene Pape is by far the  most impressive Landgraf on disc; and the supporting cast is topnotch.  Peter Seiffert sings the title role as well as anyone alive today could, but  the natural youth and brightness of his voice do not particularly suit the  character and his torment. Jane Eaglen's Elisabeth is correctly pure and  simple, and equally well sung. Waltraud Meier uses her unimpressive voice  well as Venus, underscoring the character's incredible sensuality with her  intelligent use of the text. While this set has its excitements, better still is the one led bySinopoli(with Domingo and Cheryl Studer) or the even older Solti recording (out of print) with Christa Ludwig as the finest Venus available and a very strong  cast.--Robert Levine