Vibrant and Wild

Wagner's 'Flying Dutchman'
enthralls GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Der fliegende Holländer is Richard Wagner's most performed opera in Italy. I counted eighty-five different productions since 1877. The main reasons are that a) even though it is named 'a Romantic opera in three acts', it follows, by and large, standard melodramatic numbers (aria, duet, trio, concertato, major choral intervention; and b) it is less costly to stage than most Wagnerian operas. This year, Wagner's birth bicentenary, four of the major opera houses have it in their programs. Turin imported a Willy Decker production from Paris, La Scala an Andreas Homoki production from Zurich and Oslo. They were both disappointing in trying to make the legend of the seaman searching for true love and redemption into a populist / late Marxist political drama. In addition, the Zurich-Oslo production develops within a single setting with no view of the sea, even though North Sea tempests, storms and fjords are at the center of the plot. Also the musical aspects left much to be desired.
Teatro San Carlo in Naples and Teatro Comunale in Bologna have joined forces to refurbish Yannis Kokkos' 2000 staging; I saw it in Naples on 21 April 2013. In addition, nearly twenty Italian theatres are offering three special versions of the opera: a forty minute abstract for small children, a longer (and more complete) edition for teenagers and one for youngsters. Originally conceived in Como, these versions will travel to several theaters in France and Germany, so this Dutchman is really flying.

Juha Uusitato as the Dutchman, with a sailor, Enzo Peroni as the steersman and Stamislav Shets as Daland in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano. Click on the image for higher resolution

Kokkos' production is as fresh as ever. The plot evolves in a visionary setting where ice and sea are everywhere. At the back of the stage, a giant inclined mirror reflects the action and amplifies the tempest in the hearts of the protagonists. Projections enrich the set. In this bleak and cold environment, the Dutchman and Senta stand out in their loneliness and isolation from all the other characters (the money hungry Daland, the honest but innocent Erik, the good bourgeois Mary, the strong but sleepy steersman, the crowd of sailors and their women).

Juha Uusitato as the Dutchman, with a sailor, in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano

The ending is slightly different from Wagner's libretto: both the Dutchman and Senta die at sea but the audience only senses their ascension to Heaven through the final orchestral chords. Very careful acting and only an intermission (between the first and the second act) make the performance quite tense and enthralling.

Enzo Peroni as the steersman in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Luciano Romano

Stefan Anton Reck led the San Carlo orchestra and Salvatore Caputo the chorus. From the vibrant and wild overture where D minor/major gives the flair of a stormy environment and personal dramas, the audience feels that the thirty-year-old Wagner already had several ingredients of his future work in his hands such as the single-minded attention given to the mood and color of the drama, the sufferings of the outsider and his redemption through the love of a faithful woman, the dissolution of individual musical numbers (albeit present in Der fliegende Holländer) into a symphonic approach, the synthesis of text and music. The San Carlo orchestra and chorus deserve full marks.

Enzo Peroni as the steersman in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Francesco Squeglia

Among the singers, Elisabete Matos (who has recently celebrated the first twenty five years of her career) stood out as a powerful Senta, a very taxing role, especially for the impervious second act ballad in three stanzas -- the thematic seed of the opera.

Elisabete Matos as Senta and members of the chorus in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Francesco Squeglia

Will Hartmann was an effective Erik, particularly in his protestation of love (second act) and his aria in the third act. Stanislav Shvets was a quite good Daland and Elena Zilio a motherly Mary. Enzo Peroni sang the Steersman's Song with passion.

Enzo Peroni as the steersman with the chorus in Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2013 Francesco Squeglia

Juha Uusitalo was the protagonist, the Dutchman. Der fliegende Holländer has become a signature role in his career; even though he is young, he has sung the part in all the major European opera houses. His phrasing is perfect, but on 21 April his volume was too small for the San Carlo and he had some emission problems. At the end of the performance, whilst the production, the orchestra, the chorus and the other singers received long and repeated applauses (Elisabete Matos accolades and ovations), when he came on stage he had a few boos.