This production--the company's only production of Wagner's masterful "Song Contest at Wartburg Castle"--featured the company debuts of baritone Dale Duesing and Maestro Hermann Michael.

Seattle Opera used supratitles, or English captions, for the first time for Tannhäuser. Sonya Friedman, who pioneered titles for New York City Opera's telecasts and Canadian Opera Company's Elektra in 1983, created titles for Seattle Opera from Tannhäuser in 1984 through Il trovatore in 1996.