Richard Wagner - Der fliegende Holländer

Wolfgang Sawallisch conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester in this production of Wagner's opera, with Donald McIntyre in the role of Hollander and Catherina Ligendza as Senta. Norwegian sea captain Daland encounters a ghostly ship when he is blown off course. It is that of the Flying Dutchman, a legendary figure condemned to sail the Cape of Good Hope until he can be redeemed by the love of a good woman. Daland's daughter Senta seems to offer the Dutchman a hope of salvation.

Here’s a filmed Dutchman soaked in the sea from which the doomed figure of legend emerges into an atmospheric production enhanced by a powerful rendition of the title role and effective conducting by Wolfgang Sawallisch, an experienced Wagnerian. The story of a sinner condemned to sail the seas until Judgment Day, thirsting for a death that can only come through the redemption of a woman’s selfless love, is, in Wagner’s hands, a searing drama. The Overture is here illustrated with painted scenes that encapsulate the narrative. The opera itself offers traditional costuming and sets with a realism a stage production can’t capture. When the Dutchman emerges from his gnarled, threatening ship he tramples through the shallow water of the harbor and we hear the splashes made by his boots. His ship of doom has blood-red sails, but, less happily, his ghostly crew seems left over from a B horror flick. Václav Kaslík’s film direction captures the opera’s atmosphere well, with expressionist touches like the mists that shroud the vessel of doom, and the spider’s web of fishing nets that symbolize the way the characters are trapped in their situations. But too-busy camera work and a penchant for closeups more revealing of singers’ tonsils than necessary sometimes distracts. Lip-synching, often a problem in filming operas to pre-recorded music, is reasonably well done here. The musical side of the production is successful, with a towering Dutchman in Donald McIntyre whose anguish is clear from his very first appearance and whose singing is exemplary, the voice firm, the interpretation nuanced. Daland, the greedy ship captain seduced by the Dutchman’s wealth to promise his daughter, Senta, in marriage is well done by Bengt Rundgren. Senta is a bit more problematic, as soprano Catarina Ligendza tends to be blank-faced as an actress, and with her thin, sometimes ugly high notes and scooping, some distance from the Senta of one’s dreams. Her frustrated suitor, Erik, is sung by Hermann Winkler, who brings intensity but also a burly tenor voice to the role. His aria recalling how he met and fell in love with Senta is bawled as if tenderness had no role in a love song. Harald Ek’s colorful tenor is ideal for the Steersman and Ruth Hesse is an effective Mary. The Bavarian Opera chorus and orchestra are fine and Sawallisch’s excellent conducting keeps the tension high and the narrative swift-moving. Some small cuts, common to stage productions of the period, don’t compromise a recommendation firmly based on the conducting and McIntyre’s first-rate Dutchman. --Dan Davis

The Flying Dutchman is an all-regions disc in 4:3 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Sung in German, subtitles include English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.