United Kingdom Opera North 2025 – Wagner, The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North / Garry Walker (conductor). Lyric Theatre, The Lowry, The Quays, Salford, 15.3.2025. (MC)
Directed by Annabel Arden her production is described as a ‘reinterpretation’ of the legendary tale of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer). Arden teams up with Joanna Parker her regular set, costume and video designer. The paint is hardly dry on this new staging first given by Opera North a few weeks ago in February at the Grand Theatre, Leeds.
As Wagner completed The Flying Dutchman in 1841 he had been unable to establish himself as a composer of note. Two years later the romantic German opera in three acts was premiered at the Königliches Opernhaus, Dresden. Writing both the music and libretto Wagner’s inspiration likely stemmed from 1839 when experiencing a violent storm at sea whilst voyaging from Riga to London. The opera’s primary theme is the nautical legend which relates the captain’s blasphemy against the devil that condemned the ghost ship The Flying Dutchman and its crew to roam the oceans for eternity. Only every seven years can the Dutchman disembark and redeem himself only by finding a loyal woman’s love.
Director Arden and her design team use their association with people seeking asylum to rethink Wagner’s plot in a way that acknowledges Opera North’s Theatre of Sanctuary status. In 1839 having amounted large debts Wagner and his wife fled Riga to avoid creditors. Without passports they found passage on a ship through terrible storms to England. Wagner’s destination was Paris where they arrived as illegal immigrants. I can see the strong parallels with Opera North’s ongoing work with refugees and asylum seekers. Arden and Parker see the crew of The Flying Dutchman as stateless persons away from their homeland and condemned, through no fault of their own, to sail the dangerous sea incessantly unable to seek sanctuary.
During the Overture and before the other acts opened stage scenography featured video imagery of a grey squally sea and dark blue/grey sky projected on a large backdrop. Onto the image of the sea and sky came a ghostly image of a person, likely a refugee, floating down in the depths of the sea. A second image appeared in the same way, but I was unable to determine what was being depicted.
Voices of refugees can be heard before each act speaking of their ordeals to get here and stay in this country. The representation that Arden and Parker made to asylum seekers had a mixed reception from audience members. Given that a ship is central to the opera in this reinterpretation it felt incongruous how none are seen on the set at all.
Directorial liberties have been often taken with stagings of Dutchman. In 2006 for Welsh National Opera, David Pountney set Dutchman in a space station and the sailors were replaced by astronauts, and the women as Barbie dolls. I attended a performance of Dutchman at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich in 2006. It was Bryn Terfel who took the role of the Dutchman, I recall. Director Peter Konwitschny altered the ‘spinning chorus’ where women would traditionally use spinning wheels to weave cotton. Instead, the ‘spinning’ by the women was pedalling rows of exercise bikes in a gym.
Here the first act was supposedly set at the Home Office in London with the ship’s crew as civil servants. What I saw looked more like a stock market trading floor with men of the chorus wearing smart dark blue suits and red ties waving what I took to be their lavish bonus letters. Choruses, such an important part of the opera, had their context greatly altered. No ‘spinning chorus’ here as the women seemed to be sorting bags of donated clothes. All these visual reinterpretations of the plot seemed incongruent to the spoken text and stretched the imagination much too far. If one did not already know how Wagner concludes the opera this Arden/Parker production would be extremely difficult to fathom. Overall, this production of Holländer lacked the potency the opera can produce in the right hands.
Singing in the original German, this was a generally well-chosen cast with Layla Claire and Edgaras Montvidas making their role debuts for Opera North. Shining like a beacon was Canadian soprano Layla Claire. Her soul-searing performance as Senta demonstrated total involvement in the role, notably her obsession with the Dutchman. At the heart of the score, Senta’s duet with Dutchman where she vows to be true to him until death, made an impact. Claire’s ability to achieve and sustain her high notes with clarity together with such excellent acting ability made me wonder why I had not heard her before. Part of her role as Senta required her to crawl on all-fours across a long table, ouch! As the Dutchman, suitably tortured, experienced British bass-baritone Robert Hayward sang well enough, although after a time his vibrato became wearing.
Edgaras Montvidas was authoritative in the merged role of Erik and the Steersman. The Lithuanian born tenor displayed his strong, vibrant voice that was both appealing and projected well. In the role of Daland, Clive Bayley performed well, looking like a senior government minister complete with red dispatch box and an army of lackeys buzzing around. Daland’s secretary Mary is a minor role taken here by Molly Barker a member of the Chorus of Opera North.
Conductor Garry Walker secured committed playing from the Orchestra of Opera North. In the horns some examples of poor intonation didn’t spoil the overall effect. Under chorus master Anthony Kraus the vital and unified performance of the Opera North chorus was certainly worthy of praise.
There was some disappointment felt at being unable to connect entirely with this production by the team of Annabel Arden and Joanna Parke. Consolation was provided by the high standard performances by the solo singers, orchestra and chorus. Making a significant impression on the evening it is my intention to hear more of Layla Claire and I shall look out for Edgaras Montvidas too.
Michael Cookson
Cast:
Dutchman – Robert Hayward
Senta – Layla Claire
Erik / Steersman – Edgaras Montvidas
Daland – Clive Bayley
Mary – Molly Barker
Daland’s staff, women workers, the dispossessed – Chorus of Opera North
Production:
Stage direction – Annabel Arden
Set, Costume & Video designs – Joanna Parker
Lighting design – Kevin Treacy
Movement design – Angelo Smimmo
Artistic Advisor – Christine Jane Chibnall
Chorus master – Anthony Kraus