Opera review: Wagner's Flying Dutchman at the Royal Opera House

4 / 5 stars
Flying Dutchman

WAGNER'S Flying Dutchman is an early work that is only half the length of some of his later masterpieces, but the grandeur of the music shares their intensity, which the Royal Opera House even adds to by dispensing with the usual interval in its two-and-a-half hours.

Wagner's Flying DutchmanCLIVE BARDA

This is the second revival of a gloriously dark production by Tim Albery

That was the way Wagner envisaged it, though sometimes it is even performed with two intervals.

Listening to almost any Wagner makes one feel that he was not a man who liked being interrupted. His music comprises seamless waves of emotion, giving the audience no chance to break the tension by applauding. That is part of the trick of getting away with five-hour epics and the same technique carries us along on the journey of the Flying Dutchman.

The Dutchman, powerfully sung by the great Bryn Terfel in this production, is captain of a ghost ship, cursed to sail the oceans, only putting in to port once every seven years. His only hope to break the curse is to find a woman to be forever faithful to him, but any straying will condemn her to eternal damnation.

His chance comes, however, when he meets Daland, who is remarkably willing to offer his daughter Senta in exchange for the Dutchman's riches.

However, Senta, beautifully sung by Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, has long been obsessed with visions of the Flying Dutchman and is only too keen to set sail with him.

The noble Dutchman, however, is torn between his desire to break the curse and his unwillingness to risk Senta suffering the fate of other women who had succumbed to his charms.

This second revival of a gloriously dark production by Tim Albery first seen in 2009, uses an impressive ship's prow set design by Michael Levine and gloriously effective lighting by David Finn to convey a broodiness which is further enhanced by Terfel's performance.

Wagner Flying DutchmanLIVE BARDA

The set design by Michael Levine effectively convey's a broodiness

No-one broods better than this Welsh bass-baritone, and his stage presence is compelling. With Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons driving the orchestra to powerful Wagnerian excesses, it all adds up to a magnificent evening.

My only reservation is the ending Tim Albery has chosen to give the piece. Usually, it ends with Senta proclaiming eternal love for the Dutchman and leaping to her death into the sea.

Sometimes we even see her and the Dutchman rising together into heaven.

Albery has preferred a less mystical end, with Senta breaking down and collapsing to the floor clutching the model ship which has fuelled all her fantasies. I cannot help feeling that the music deserves something more dramatic.

This production will be broadcast on Radio 3 on February 23 and screened to cinemas in over 60 countries on February 24 as part of the ROH Live Cinema series. For details, see roh.org.uk/cinema

Tickets: www.roh.org.uk or 020 7304 4000 (last performance February 24).

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