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The Dutchman Flies High
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# : |
17630 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1990 |
1,608 Words |
| Author
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Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott, based in New York, is a writer on
performance arts. |
The Metropolitan Opera, flagship of American opera companies, was sailing into stormy seas as it staged a new production of Wagner's Flying Dutchman. Wagner's early and compact tale of redemptive love has inspired several bizarre and controversial productions in recent memory and New York Wagnerians wondered if the Met would enter the fray with an experimental production, or if it would adhere to the more conservative aesthetic of its new Ring cycle. To its credit, the Met did neither, producing instead a compromise Dutchman. The new production, first staged in December 1989, is both beautiful, thought provoking, and unlikely to ruffle the feathers of conservative audience members. It may, in fact, presage a new type of Wagnerian staging that combines the best of both experimental and conservative productions.
The Flying Dutchman is loosely based on several legends of a Dutch sea caption doomed to sail the seas for eternity, unless he finds the love of a faithful woman. Wagner's version opens on the storm-ridden coast of Norway, where two ships arrive to take shelter. The Norwegian caption Daland meets the mysterious and morbid Dutchman who, without disclosing his identity, reveals the great wealth he carries on his ship and promises to give it to Daland if Daland's daughter Senta will consent to marriage. In the second act, Senta faces an imposing painting of the legendary Dutchman and is inspired to sing an obsessed ballad about the unfortunate sailor; the Dutchman himself soon arrives and the two fall instantly in love. In the final act, the Dutchman discovers Senta with her former suitor, a simple hunter, and, believing Senta untrue to him, he takes to his ship. Senta cries after him and flings herself from a cliff into the sea, thus redeeming the Dutchman from his cursed wandering and releasing him to
... (1989 of 9635 Characters)
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