Russell Thomas’s cheering section spends a lot of time in airports. Recent entries on his dance card have included the tenor leads in La Forza del Destino (Oslo), Aida (Chicago), Turandot (Los Angeles), Tosca (London), Don Carlos (Hamburg), and Otello (on tour with the Met). Having seen him not long ago as the Holy Fool in Wagner’s hieratic Parsifal, Houston is now privileged to catch him as Tannhäuser, another of the master’s title characters. Both in its vocal qualities and its extreme emotionalism, the role of the medieval minstrel is widely thought to be one of the most grueling in a dramatic tenor’s repertory. Luckily, Thomas has the personality, the technique, and the vocal colors to thrive on such a challenge. The ladies in contention for his heart are Tamara Wilson as the saintly Elisabeth and Sasha Cooke as the pagan Venus. Erik Nielsen, an American maestro heard mostly in major European houses, is the conductor. The production is by Francesca Zambello, a self-described operatic populist who works in both traditional and progressive modes, never without the priceless common touch. —Matthew Gurewitsch