Wagner - Die Fliegender Hollander [DVD] [2011]

If you like your Wagner staged in the traditional manner, then this production won't be for you. If however you think that the themes in Wagner's work - fatalistic romantic destinies, love, duty, power, suffering, the conflict between tradition and modernity - have a timeless quality and can resonate with its subject no matter what the setting, then you might be inclined to at least understand why a producer might want to relate those themes in a way that is relevant to a modern audience. The question with the De Nederlandse Opera production of Der Fliegende Holländer however is whether they take it too far and perhaps take too many liberties with the opera.

Director Martin Kusej takes advantage of the somewhat schizophrenic split in the opera itself between tradition and modernity in order to present it meaningfully to a modern-day Dutch audience. There are no longer sailing ships sailing the seven seas for years at a time - ship navigation, seafaring and commerce are all very different now, so if you think about it in modern terms, it shouldn't really be surprising to see shipping in terms of cruises and ferries, the Dutchman here arriving on a Norwegian ferry, his crew asylum seekers, looking for a homeland, a place to settle after a lifetime of being tossed around as refugees on the seas of conflict and revolution. It shouldn't be difficult either to consider the arrival of these figures being perceived as a threat to those who enjoy a comfortable western bourgeois lifestyle.

Whether those multicultural subjects have any place in a Wagner opera is for the opera-lover to consider (or not, should such interpretations not hold any interest for traditionalists), but it strikes me as a valid response to the themes of Der Fliegende Holländer, and - most importantly - it's presented here in a manner that doesn't undermine or lessen the importance of the other eternal themes in the opera and the subjects that held meaning for Richard Wagner, namely the loss of one's homeland, a consideration of what is a sense of homeland, and all the associated themes that go alongside it where love, family, stability and security count for more than richness and social climbing in a globalised society where money talks. Those subjects are treated with utmost reverence in this production, and the reason why they can be given a modern spin is because the opera is so powerful in its expression of them, tying them deeply into a mythology that does indeed hold mystique and attraction in the legend of the Flying Dutchman, but also in the use of the sea itself - a powerful symbol in any guise, but even more so here in the musical expression and embryonic use of leitmotif that Wagner employs so evocatively.

While I feel that the opera's themes are done justice to in this production then - but I can quite understand why it might not work for everyone - what is just as important, and ultimately persuasive here is the performance of the opera itself. Quite simply, it is sung and played magnificently, and comes across particularly well in the stunning sound reproduction that is presented on the Blu-ray edition. Not only are the voices of Juha Uusitalo and Catherine Naglestad superb in their range, control and power, but they blend together most marvellously as singers and as the couple of the Dutchman and Senta. This is totally a 5-star production in terms of performance and singing alone (as well as for the quality of the Blu-ray) - but it is also a sincere, interesting and fascinating attempt to relate the opera to modern themes. If the concept is perhaps a slightly imperfect fit, or slightly inconsistent with the original intentions of the opera, Der Fliegende Holländer was always an imperfect opera in the first place - but, like this production, no less fascinating for those perceived flaws and inconsistencies.

This is most splendidly sung with a terrific cast and has fantastic sound. The box photos look interesting and it starts off with highly atmospheric cold wind and rain on the North Sea. One feels one is in for a winner. Oh dear oh dear - suddenly gates open and a motley band of hippy looking tourists appear off a ship obviously just back from a holiday on the Costa del Sol by the look of them. This production has been updated to a modern port, Amsterdam perhaps. Later what might be members of young immigrant street gangs appear amd engage in knife fights. In the second act, (the whole opera plays without a break), we move to a bath house where a bunch of ladies are preparing for an evening out - on the streets by the make-up and dresses. The main cast alternates between dark, almost monk like dress, and flashy night club gear. I found it hard to concentrate on the opera with all this wierd staging. Only in the closing minutes do we return to the sea and this is very well done. The old Savonlinna and especially the magnificent Turku recordings manage the drama so much better. This "new" Dutchman is one of the worst operatic fiascos on Blu-ray I have so far encountered. Just as bad as the recent dreadfull Meistersinger. Buy with considerable caution. How productions like this get approved for Blu-ray baffles me. It would make so much more commercial sense to get at least one reasonably main stream performance out before allowing way-out productions like this. What a waste. I am not against an update - Rienzi and the Spanish Ring were brilliant solutions to massive problems of modernisation but this seems to me to have no relevance to the opera Wagner conceived despite claims to the contrary by the conductor in the short extra session. Uusitalo is phenominal as the Dutchman and the set is worth it for that but as a total view of the opera I felt it to be seriously misplaced.

This is one of the most awful productions I have seen in 40 years. Channel ferries meets garden centre meets beach wear emporium gives an idea of its style. The whole atmosphere of the opera has been thrown away and replaced with dreary dullness. Not only is the production without any merit they have also seen fit to alter the climax at the end of act 3.If they do not understand what wagner intended leave it to somene who does . Unfortunately the soloists are not given much to work with but they nor the production stand comparison to the Kupfer / Bayreuther Festspiele 1985 disc with ESTES / BALSLEV / SALMINEN. I do not dislike modern productions as a routine standpoint but it requires an opera company of outstanding ability to be successful. Try Muti / Otello on Blu Ray as a brilliant example.

NB sync between picture and audio is poor and variable, not usually a problem with my sony 570 and samsung plasma 6900