# Favorite Elisabeth (from Tannhäuser)



## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

There are several great interpreters of Elisabeth so that I can't make up my mind who is my favorite, so I'm especially curious to see how this one goes. I think I managed to be more thorough with this poll than some of the other ones, but there are some notable singers (Maria Müller, Annie Krull, Margaret Harshaw, Éva Marton, and Maria Reining among others) that I was not able to include since polls can only have 15 choices. I tried to focus on the most notable singers and those that appear on complete recordings of the opera, not simply recordings of excerpts.


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## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

I immediately thought of Rethberg, but failing that, Elisabeth Grümmer is my ideal kind of voice.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Helga Dernesch / Lucia Popp, sorry, can't choose between this two .


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I chose Dernesch, but my favourite versions of Elisabeth's two arias are those by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, though she never sang the role on stage.


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## zxxyxxz (Apr 14, 2020)

Gré Brouwenstijn, on the grounds that my favourite recording is the Bayreuth 1955 and I can't fault it. Mind you I had to go and hunt for the cd box to double check she was in it.


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## Ned Low (Jul 29, 2020)

I think Gwyneth Jones, in Colin Davis' Tannhäuser, is a great Venus ; charming and passionate( how Tannhauser left such a beauty is beyond me!) But i don't think her Elizabeth is as good as her Venus.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This was a very difficult poll for me. My favourites in that type of role are Schwarzkopf, Grummer, Janowitz and Studer. It's very difficult to choose one favourite. I'm not keen on Dernesch other than her Leonore (I wonder what she would have been like a few years earlier in the role). The great Brunhildes on the list above don't convince me as their voices are too dark, too heavy or both! Schwarzkopf never performed the role complete (why?) and so that leaves Grummer, Janowitz and Studer, but there have been some surprising star performances of the part to consider. De los Angeles is superb (vulnerable, warm and loving) and Popp has more metal in her voice than I was expecting (but she can't quite compare with others in the role). I was sceptical about Jones in the role (thinking she would lack legato, but she joins my group of very good interpreters of Elizabeth due to her reigning in her powers and combining that sweetness with an impassioned portrayal. 

On the other hand Janowitz is disappointing due to being too light of voice. However the absolute creme de la creme are Studer and Grummer and I find Studer more emotionally involved in the role, hence my voting for her.

N.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I don't have enough listening experience to vote here, but wondered if you covered Elizabeths from both CD and DVD. But if you don't care about my lack of listening experience I would select Janowitz as my favorite at this time.

Wonder if there is a poll on favorite Venus from Tannhauser?


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

^ There are lots of good singers, and I wasn't able to include all the ones would like to. So I had to really narrow down the choices here. Gwyneth Jones and Éva Marton are probably the most notable on video, but I was not able to fit both in the poll. I think there are more Elisabeths on audio-only recordings, so the poll is skewed in that direction.

I don't believe there is one yet, but I will eventually make a poll for favorite Venus from _Tannhäuser_. It will take some searching first to figure out all or most of the notable interpreters.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

zxxyxxz said:


> Gré Brouwenstijn, on the grounds that my favourite recording is the Bayreuth 1955 and I can't fault it. Mind you I had to go and hunt for the cd box to double check she was in it.


The only 1955 Bayreuth recording I know of is the Cluytens recording which does indeed have Brouwenstijn.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I would never desert my Vicky.
Victoria de los Angeles of course.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Schigolch, who is your favorite?


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