MEETING VENUS

Zoltan Szanto, a virtually unknown Hungarian conductor, is given the opportunity to conduct a new production of Wagner's “Tannhauser ” in Paris. The production will be broadcast in 27 countries around the world, and could make Szanto an international figure ovemight. It's the chance of a lifetime, and he's eager to meet the challenge. But the challenges he finds are not those he expected. The management's political infighting, the strike called by the dancers' union, the chaotic personal lives of his bickering singers, and an environmental group which pickets the theatre all keep him from his valuable rehearsal time and “creating art.” With the help of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's stellar soprano voice, Glenn Close portrays Karin Anderson, a Swedish super-diva whose relationship with the conductor is as stormy as the production.