Der Fliegende Holländer

by Richard Wagner

seen by live streaming from Covent Garden 24 February 2015

This is a revival of Tim Albery's 2009 production. It stars Bryn Terfel as the Dutchman, Adrianne Pieczonka as Senta, Peter Rose as Daland, Michael König as Erik, Ed Lyon as the Steersman, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers as Mary. The conductor is Andris Nelsons.

Bryn Terfel gives a compelling performance as the flying Dutchman, by turns weary, passionate, hopeful and despairing. His is a commanding presence on the large stage, with a set that tends to dwarf the characters in its great sweep of curved metal.

Adrianne Pieczonka is a warm Senta living in a world of her own, and genuinely puzzled to be called to account by the hapless Erik. It really does not seem to have occurred to her that she may have a conflict of loyalties until he reminds her of what he has taken to be her promises to him. Her impact in the second scene (here set in a clothing workshop with lots of sewing machines) is less striking than that of Anja Kampe, whose swooping attack on the descending notes of the Dutchman's ballad in the original production was utterly sensational.

The cinema streaming allowed for closer emphasis on the intimate scenes - mention was made in the introduction of Wagner's expert use of silences, so the audience's attention was doubly drawn to the moment when the Dutchman and Senta first meet and regard each other. The Dutchman's long monologue on his first entry was also enhanced by close camera attention.

The contrasting crowd scenes were thus all the stronger from a cinematic point of view - the hive of industry in the clothing workshop in wholesome contrast to the boozy high spirits of Daland's crew and the creepy and seedy atmosphere Senta's encounter with the Dutchman's crew. The chorus work in all these scenes was very compelling.

The design is very striking, though often indistinct as the lighting levels are low, The arrival of the ghost ship is marked by a fantastically threatening shadow passing across the stage. For the second scene the sewing machines descend from above under bright neon lights to give a welcome contrast which after a while seems shallow and brittle. In the third scene the carousing of the living crew gives way to the threat of the spectral crew in a recess revealed when part of the floor is raised; the spectral crew in their greenish light is crushed as the floor returns to its original position.

In cinematic terms this is impressive but the general gloom becomes rather too unrelenting - suitably atmospheric on stage but frustrating on film. Also, the sound balance was not ideal on this occasion - the singers were almost always too muted as if their voices were failing to carry across the orchestra and into the auditorium. It is not clear whether this was a failure of judgement in the transmission, or a local difficulty; there has not been such a problem with previous streamings