Michael Levine’s basic set is revealed as the concave upturned hull of a modern ship – and that is basically it for the two hour and twenty-minute span of the performance. We also, quite appropriately, hear the faint trickling of some water that will be seen at the front edge of the stage. The Overture is played against a frontcloth that billows like a sail in choppy seas and from behind lights – as if from a lighthouse – shine through it. I saw this production when it was first staged in 2009 and it did not work as well as it did last night. Her desire to be loved and redeem the Dutchman by her love is nothing but a futile dream and becomes her own curse … just as – in his own way – the Dutchman is cursed. Her death is as much from a broken mind as from a broken heart. Indeed, as Senta (instead of throwing herself into the water at the end at the end of the opera and subsequently reappearing with the Dutchman in a Death-and-Transfiguration denouement) merely drops down clutching the model three-masted schooner that was ever-present at the front of the stage for most of the opera … it nevertheless seemed absolutely right. The less consoling nature of the “Dresden” ending is perhaps better attuned to readings that stress the tragic aspect of the drama.’īleak Tim Albery’s version of Der fliegende Holländer certainly is. Barry Millington emphasises how ‘The work underwent further modifications throughout Wagner’s career’ and despite a Redemption theme having been added in 1860 ‘in the wake of Tristan und Isolde … The original “Dresden” ending, however, consisting simply of emphatic D major chords, is occasionally adopted, as in the present performance. Senta’s ballad was also transposed from the original key of A minor to G minor, which called for a change in instrumentation. It underwent many changes by the time it was first performed in Dresden in 1843 and these included dividing the opera into three acts, transferring the setting to Norway and changing the names Donald and George to Daland and Erik. The earliest versions of the opera had just one act with three scenes and the setting was the coast of Scotland. #Royal opera house der fliegende hollander archiveThe autograph score of 1841 is, I believe, held in the national archive at Bayreuth’s Richard Wagner Foundation. So, as most of the contributors explained, Der fliegende Holländer is a very autobiographical early work from Wagner, though we read much less about the actual score we were hearing. He fantasised about a woman who would love and serve him, and he created her for his Dutchman.’ Wagner craved a woman’s unconditional faith and self-sacrifice for both him and his mission and eventually found such a person in Cosima, his second wife. Wagner identifies himself with the mythical wanderer, the Flying Dutchman.’ In another contribution the suffering of the Dutchman is identified by Christopher Wintle ( From Kernel to Crucible) as that of ‘Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew … also a testament to the privations of a deracinated artist – pre-eminently Wagner.’ Sarah Lenton in Sighting the Flying Dutchman informs the reader that for Wagner – despite her sacrifices – Minna ‘wasn’t the soulmate he craved. Uprooted from hearth and home, persecuted by creditors, unfulfilled in love. Svanholm is choice casting in a rôle that is often avoided by the worlds top heldentenors (Melchior, for example, never sang it on stage at all) and is splendidly forthright and focused and Nilsson, lighter of timbre than many a Daland, contributes most effectively to this stellar gathering which, under the vivid direction of Fritz Reiner, is undeniably among the finest ever to have committed the opera to disc.United Kingdom Wagner, Der fliegende Holländer: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of The Royal Opera, Andris Nelsons (conductor), Covent Garden, London (JPr) Bryn Terfel as The Dutchman © CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPALĪ typically informative programme for this second revival of Tim Albery’s Olivier Award-nominated 2009 production had an essay by Barry Millington entitled Igniting the Creative Spark and one of his suggestions as to how Wagner came to choose his subject for an opera was: ‘Living in squalid lodgings in Paris, Wagner and his wife are forced to pawn wedding presents and other silver items to buy food. Hans Hotter displays the nobility of the tortured Dutchmans soul, unusual, and the more welcome, in his keen observance of the scores detail. Fortunately Astrid Varnay, who had earned such an excellent reputation since her first appearance there in 1941, was available and on this live recording conveys all the passion and commitment that a convincing Senta requires. In his autobiography 5000 Nights at the Opera Bing recalls that the Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch was his first choice for Senta, but she was unable to accept the opportunity indeed, she never sang the rôle at the Met.
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