What is Tannhäuser?
{{italictitle}} {{Infobox opera | name = Tannhäuser | translated_name = Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg | native_name = Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg | native_name_lang = de | image = File:Richard Wagner c.1840.jpg | image_size = 220px | alt = | caption = Wagner, ca. 1840 | genre = [[Opera]] in 3 acts | other_name = | composer = [[Richard Wagner]] | librettist = Richard Wagner | language = German | based_on = | premiere_date = | premiere_location = Dresden Royal Opera,<br />[[Dresden]], [[Germany]]<br/ >15 October 1845 | other = | website = }} '''''Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg''''' (En: ''Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg'') is a three-act opera with words and music by [[Richard Wagner]]. It was Wagner's fifth opera. He worked on it between 1842 and 1845. It was first performed at the Dresden Royal Opera on 19 October 1845 with Wagner conducting. The opera was a success. It became hugely popular in Germany. In 1859, ''Tannhäuser'' was the first Wagner opera to be performed in the [[United States of America]]. By 1861, the opera had been performed many times in [[Germany]] when Wagner was asked to revise the work for the [[Paris Opéra]]. Despite his best efforts, Wagner failed. He was not popular. Anti-Wagner riots broke out. He withdrew the work. It was not staged again in [[France]] until 1895. Meanwhile, the opera opened the second season of the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in [[New York City]] in November 1884. == Background== [[File:Tannhauser-tischbein-1845.jpg|thumb|left|Premiere of Richard Wagner's opera, ''Tannhäuser'' on 19th October 1845, with Joseph Tichatschek as Tannhäuser and Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient as Venus. Drawing by F. Tischbein (1845).]] Wagner was in Paris completing ''The Flying Dutchman'' when he began thinking about writing another opera. A friend suggested Tannhäuser as a subject.