The Flying Dutchman (Black Dog Opera Library) (2024)

Richard Wagner o personalitate „obsedată" de mituri(legende)...un filosof profund cugetător care a fost preocupat de marile întrebări ale omenirii cu privire la viață, iubire, divinitate, moarte.

3.5 stars. A simple, straightforward libretto. The power rests in the Romantic imagery of the ghostly captain and his ship. The unfolding narrative is quite cheesy, but Wagner's evocative score lends itself to swarthy, gloomy images (think the artwork of Caspar David Friedrich) that provides a backdrop that can sustain the cheesiness, much like the atmosphere of a gothic novel can often save it from the overly melodramatic plot.

The problem is when this opera is so often performed in a “modern” context. As soon as we leave the realm of 19th century Romanticism by including avant garde staging and/or an “updated” setting (The Dutchman is an airline pilot! No...he haunts a tourist cruise ship!) then the opera loses all force and just becomes silly. In the immortal words of David St. Hubbins, "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever." And this opera lives in that space!

Nunca había escuchado ni leído el mito del Holandés Errante, así que fue una sorpresa, para mí, esta obra que, al igual que un tal Fausto con sus muchas versiones, Wagner la cuenta a su manera.

This is Wagner. So of course, it is undoubtedly brilliant. But also, it can be an excruciating exercise in patience.

Read the libretto in preparation for the MetOpera.org pandemic livestream of the March 10,2020 performance: "Our week of operatic myths and legends comes to a close with Wagner’s breakout masterpiece, Der Fliegende Holländer. Bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin gives a commanding performance in the title role, leading a cast of extraordinary Wagnerians that also includes soprano Anja Kampe as Senta, tenor Sergey Skorokhodov as Erik, and bass Franz-Josef Selig as Daland. Valery Gergiev conducts François Girard’s vivid staging."

Nu mă așteptam ca o operă atât de scrută să fie atât de compactă. Sunt foarte multe surse de inspirație în această operă pe care le pot sesiza ușor: elementul folcloric, elementul livresc provenit din tragediile antice și drame contemporane, precum și un element religios atașat unuia filosofic (aproape nihilist în unele momente). Piesa aceasta este scrisă cu mult geniu, subiectul este unul destul de interesant, iar de-a lungul ei întâlnim diverse elemente ce îi întăresc reputația.

I was always curious about Wagner's work but somehow had the feeling is too profound to grasp the entire philosophy and meaning. I truly enjoyed the libreto, seems a bit easy at a first look but reading also an additional description in the book introduction made me understand the entire context. Next step is to watch the live opera

Zusammen mit Tannhäuser meine absolute Lieblingsoper. Wie bei allen Dingen die man mag wünschte ich, sie wäre länger! Zwischendurch echt Gänsehaut, so begeistert war ich. Hätte nicht übel Lust sie mir in der Oper anzuschauen aber in der verfluchten Hamburger Staatsoper bringen die nur Neuinszenierungen😡

Auch wenn Wagner sichtlich bemüht ist, seine Oper mit viel „Hojohe! Hallojo!" künstlich in die Länge zu ziehen, ist das Libretto von „Der fliegende Holländer" sehr schnell gelesen. Es wird viel von „ewiger Treue" geredet. Der Text wirkt schnell übertrieben. Dennoch gibt es immer wieder Situation, die für mich als Leser interessant waren, auch wenn sie im Libretto häufig nur angedeutet und nicht zu Ende gedacht werden. Aus Geldgier verspricht Daland seine bereits verlobte Tochter Senta dem nächstbesten Kapitän als Frau. Die Seemannsgeschichte vom fliegenden Holländer hat so große Macht über Senta, dass sie beim ersten Treffen mit dem Holländer dazu bereit ist, ihm ewige Treue zu schwören. Der männliche Raum des Segelschiffs wird mit dem weiblichen Raum der Spinnstube kontrastiert. Dabei werden patriarchale Herrschaftsmuster angedeutet. Sentas Verlobter Erik ist eine interessante Außenseiterfigur. Als Jäger ist er kein Teil der Seemannsgesellschaft und damit die einzige Figur, die keiner Gruppe zugeordnet wird. Man muss die interessanten Punkte im Libretto des fliegenden Holländers suchen. Die überhöhte Sprache hilft nich unbedingt dabei.

This guy Daland marries off his daughter Senta to the Flying Dutchman; jilting Erik in the process. And Erik’s suspicions turn out to be right, but because of envy, he was wrong.

Sehr gut.

A very short work that lacked depth in characters. The idea of the Flying Dutchman was interesting but not properly explored in my opinion (also maybe in its time more people were aware of the details, I don't know). The ending was intriguing but there is little more to say on it because I'm not perfectly clear as to what exactly happened and why.

awesome recording with a booklet included

Wagner + vodka = nightmare all night! :) <3

The music is good, but the words....