All remaining live performances in the 2019–20 season at The Met have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is a recording from 10 March 2020.
A scene from The Flying Dutchman at The Met Photo: Ken Howard/ Met Opera
Sunday 12 April 2020 at 6pm on RNZ Concert
Metropolitan Opera Season: The Flying Dutchman
WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman
Cast:
Anja Kampe (Senta), Mihoko Fujimura (Mary), Sergei Skorokhodov (Erik), David Portillo (Steersman), Evgeny Nikitin (The Dutchman), Franz-Josef Selig (Daland), Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev
Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman Photo: Ken Howard/ Met Opera
François Girard unveils a spellbinding new vision of the composer's tale of a cursed sea captain doomed to sail the open ocean for eternity. With sweeping sets by John Macfarlane, Girard’s new production turns the Met stage into a rich, layered tableau reminiscent of a vast oil painting.
Synopsis of The Flying Dutchman
'Der Fliegende Holländer' is the earliest of Wagner’s operatic creations to remain in the repertory. The two lead roles represent archetypes to which the composer would return, in one form or another, in most of his later works: the “otherworldly stranger” and the woman who sacrifices herself for his salvation. The work’s unearthly ambience is impressive but only one aspect of it: Both the world of nature and of the supernatural are magnificently evoked in the score.
A scene from The Flying Dutchman at The Met Photo: Ken Howard/ Met Opera
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was the controversial creator of music-drama masterpieces that stand at the centre of today’s operatic repertory. An artistic revolutionary who reimagined every supposition about theatre, Wagner insisted that words and music were equals in his works. This approach led to the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art,” combining music, poetry, architecture, painting, and other disciplines, a notion that has had an impact on creative fields far beyond opera.
Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman and Anja Kampe as Senta Photo: Ken Howard/ Met Opera
The opera is set on the Norwegian coast. The time of the action is not specified in the score.
The score of 'Der Fliegende Holländer' is an extraordinary combination of operatic lyricism, dramatic insight, and magnificent effects. At the time it was written, Wagner had not yet developed his theories of music-drama, which would form the basis for his later works. Many of the features of conventional opera (recitatives, arias, ensembles), therefore, can still be found, but the way Wagner integrates them into the fabric of the score clearly foreshadows his later technique of a continuous musical flow.
A scene from The Flying Dutchman at The Met Photo: Ken Howard/ Met Opera
