The Flying Dutchman
The Dutchman’s mysterious ghost ship is doomed to roam the seas until he finds true love on land. The young Senta dreams of the mythical Dutchman and longs to break his curse. But a chance to do so only occurs every seven years.
Wagner’s epic score for Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) brilliantly captures the vast scale of the story, from the stormy overture to the final scene of tragedy and redemption. Wagner himself considered this opera as marking the real beginning of his career in the 1840s. Is it too simplistic to see a link between Wagner’s existential doubts of this period of his life and the bleak intensity of the best music in Holländer? Working at the time as an exile in Paris, suffering endless setbacks in his fight for recognition, Wagner seems at very least to be sensitive to the subject matter. Irish National Opera’s first Wagner opera, this production is directed by Rachael Hewer and INO’s artistic director, Fergus Sheil, conducts the Irish National Opera orchestra and chorus. Giselle Allen sings Senta and baritone Jordan Shanahan as the cursed Dutchman fated to continually sail the seas. Bass James Creswell plays Senta’s father Daland, with tenor Toby Spence as Eric, mezzo-soprano Carolyn Dobbin as Senta’s nurse Mary, and tenor Gavan Ring as the steersman.
CAST
The Dutchman | Jordan Shanahan |
|---|---|
Senta | Giselle Allen |
Daland | James Creswell |
Erik | Toby Spence |
Mary | Carolyn Dobbin |
Daland's steersman | Gavan Ring |
Orchestra | Irish National Opera Orchestra |
Chorus | Irish National Opera Chorus |
| ... | |
Music | Richard Wagner |
|---|---|
Text | Richard Wagner |
Conductor | Fergus Sheil |
Director | Rachael Hewer |
Sets & Costumes | Francis O'Connor |
Lights | Howard Hudson |
Video projection | Neil O’Driscoll |
Choreographer | Stephanie Dufresne |
Chorus Director | Richard McGrath |
Assistant conductor | Peter Joyce |
Assistant director | Chris Kelly |
Répétiteur | Brenda Hurley |
| ... | |
The story
Act I
A storm has driven the sea captain Daland's ship ashore. The voyage has exhausted the crew and soon they all go to rest. The Steersman tries to keep up his spirits with a song but falls asleep on the watch. Suddenly a strange vessel pulls alongside Daland's ship. Its captain is the Flying Dutchman, who has been condemned to eternal wandering unimpeded by storms or pirates. Once in seven years he is permitted to land. The Dutchman offers Daland unheard-of wealth, pleading in return for lodging and the hand of his daughter, Senta. Daland accepts the Dutchman's proposal, and the ships set sail.
Act II
Waiting for the return of Daland's ship, the girls are working on their spinning wheels and singing. Senta's friends tease her about the huntsman Erik, her ardent suitor. Senta, heedless of facetious remarks, sings a ballad about the Flying Dutchman, which she came to love already in childhood, and discloses her innermost secret: with a faithful love she wishes to save the harried seaman. Senta's words surprise Erik, who is overtaken by a strange foreboding. He relates a dream in which he saw her embrace the mysterious captain. The Dutchman and Senta's father appear, and the father announces the marriage arrangement. Senta is transfixed by the Dutchman. The Dutchman does not turn his eyes from Senta, hoping that her love and faithfulness will lift his curse.
Act III
Sailors celebrate their safe return to land. They call out to the Dutchman's ship, inviting the crew to join them, but the ship remains dark and silent. Daland's sailors deride the mysterious crew and their captain. A storm rises and apparitions approach the shore over the waves, and with that the invited guests have arrived.
Erik tries to dissuade Senta from binding her life with the eerie stranger. Senta is unwilling to listen to him, for she has made an oath and is called by a supreme mission. Erik then reminds her of his love for her. The Dutchman, seeing Senta together with Erik, is stricken by desperate jealousy and a sense of loss, believing that Senta, too, has failed to render him undying faithfulness. He reveals his secret and sets off towards his ship to continue this endless roaming prescribed by the curse. Senta throws herself into the sea from the top of a cliff thus redeeming the Dutchman's sins with her death. The Flying Dutchman's ship disintegrates against the cliffs, and his odyssey comes to an end.
GALLERY
