Customer Reviews

Richard Wagner - Der fliegende Holländer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You can taste the salt spray and feel the waves heave beneath your feet. You can almost see Captain Jack Sparrow mincing saucily on the fo'c'sle deck. This brilliantly evocative 1975 film of Wagner's tale of the Flying Dutchman, replete with mighty square-rigged ships, storm-tossed waves, pea soup fog, ghosts of dead sailors who are reanimated and the grisly green corpses of dead sailors who are not, breathes life into Wagner's early score, making for a splendidly atmospheric musical experience. Filmed in the studio, with the singers lip-synching the score, it is blessed with wonderful period sets and costumes, its 19th Century hyperreality heightened by mighty ocean waves and their tempest-swept ships, an effect filmed in two huge water tanks. Der Fliegende Hollander lightens our burdens aboard ship as if it were a two hour long sea shanty. Wagner lends himself to full-scale film presentation (as opposed to filmed stagings). His Ring Cycle seems to be especially ideal for some future CGI film extravaganza.

Directed with visionary zeal by the Czech opera director Vaclav Kaslik, a veteran of 150 opera productions in the theatre, usually working with the great Czech scenographer Josef Svoboda, he exhuberantly tackles any of Wagner's stage directions or text that call for a special effect. Distinctive examples of visual intensity are the phantom ship with its red sails approaching the shore at speed and anchoring and the ghost crew arising from the dead in response to the taunts of the Norwegian sailors at the end of Act III. The conductor of the splendid Bayerisches Staatsorchester and Chor is Wolfgang Sawallisch, a Hollander specialist since his first performances of the work in Augsburg in the 1940s. He utilizes as his musical text Wagner's earlier thoughts on the score as it was originally performed for its premiere in Dresden, which Sawallisch has come to prefer over the years as being more effective. This version includes the so-called 'blunt' ending to the Overture and the performance of Act III without the harp-dominated Tristan-influenced redemption music, as well as louder and wilder brass commentaries throughout the entire opera. It makes for a much more visceral experience, a gutsier opera that seems to scrape against the nerves as one listens, causing one to sit-up and take notice as the supernatural tale unfolds.

Donald McIntyre is a charismatic Hollander, dressed in black leather and tall boots. He sings the part well. Senta is played by Catarina Ligendza, who appears troubled and confused, not quite grasping the attraction she feels for this strange man. Her voice is good, although it wobbles ocassionally. Daland is the very fine Bengt Rundgren. Erik is Hermann Winkler. The cast is quite good, which is especially important because so much of this film depends upon their acting as well as their vocal work. The superb orchestra is always right there to comment on the action, bringing dramatic unity to the performance. The result is an effective whole that is often quite riveting in its totality.

The digitally remastered film is crystal clear, as is the sound in PCM stereo and DTS 5.1. The disc lasts 117 minutes and is coded 0 worldwide. The usual DGG menus, catalogs and translations are here, along with a booklet.

This beautifully filmed, visually evocative performance is an especially atmospheric Fliegende Hollander. Strongly recommended.

Mike Birman

It's much better than I was expecting. Very dark, very atmospheric, actually some parts reminded me of carpenter's "the fog". McIntyre is very good as the doomed captain and Ligendza with her cold beauty is a marvelous Senta. The acting is of a very high quality and visually the production is certainly inspired. I find this as a great alternative to Kupfer's Bayreuth production which was also very imaginative and powerful.
But actually I am very happy to possess a strongly faithful adaptation of this magnificent opera, made by a director who certainly knows how to build the harmony between visuals and the music.
The audio recording is also first rate. Sawallisch is a great wagner conductor as usual, Ligendza with her huge voice delivers thrilling results especially in the famous ballad. McIntyre is an intelligent singer who manages to perform Hollander's menacing and terrifying aspects but also his melancholy and tragic fate. The orchestra is not bayreuth but still provides grandiose moments under Sawallisch's command. The chorus and the rest of the cast are also excellent.
Dts sound is brilliant providing a very organic sound experience. English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese subtitles are also included. Highly recommended.

This is my second Flying Dutchman I've seen on DVD (the first being one from the Savolinna Opera Festival with Behrens and Backman), and I much prefer this one, for a few reasons, not the least of which is the *realism*. The Dutchman and Daland are saling on actual ships through actual water; there's as much emphasis on acting as singing, and there are some truly thrilling dramatic orchestral moments.

Vocally, Catarina Ligendza (Senta) and Donald McIntyre (The Dutchman) do wonderfully well, and the rest of the cast is also good to great--no one here is graded a C or lower. In response to the review that complains of the "cuts" in the opera, Sawallisch *deliberately* performed the 1843 version because it was, to him, more convincing and dramatic--and I'm inclined to agree. This is the DVD Der Fliegende Hollander of choice, since it is dramatically, musically, and visually exciting.

Very highly recommended.

Finally, at last a video of The Flying Dutchman that satisfies! Perhaps this is a difficult opera to stage, and a film is needed. This one is excellent. The violence of stormy seas, the singing of the long-dead sailors in the last act, the hopelessness of Erik's situation, the tentativeness on both sides at the lovers' first encounter--all come through gloriously. It is a thrill to see Donald McIntyre in this. I will watch this video many times.

This is a wondefully entertaining filmed version of Wagner's opera. Many little cinematic touches abound, such as the ghastly representation of the Dutchman's crew as they try to join in the general dancing and celebration, and the ships themselves. Donald McIntyre is a brooding, powerful Dutchman, and he is supported by excellent vocal work from Catarina Ligendza (whom I've encountered before) and Bengt Rundgren (whom I haven't). Wolfgang Sawallisch conducts the opera in a brisk and energetic manner. Very enjoyable and highly recommended!

This is a wonderful DVD, one which has already been reviewed (and superbly so) by Mike Birman. This review is of another performance of "The Flying Dutchman", one which I remembered and thought about this morning while walking to work in lower Manhattan.

New York City Opera's fall season in 2001 was scheduled to open with a new production of "The Flying Dutchman", a rare excursion into Wagnerian repertory for that company. The premiere (as well as the entire opening week) was cancelled, due, of course, to the horrifying events of September 11th; that cancelled performance was rescheduled in late October as a 9/11 benefit. The opening ceremony that evening was very moving, with the entire cast (in full makeup) and backstage crew gathered on stage, underneath a large American flag which hung overhead. After a speech or two, it was announced that the flag hanging above the stage had covered the coffin of a member of the opera company's crew, who died on 9/11 while performing his duties as a member of the New York City Fire Department. The deceased firefighter's son, who also worked backstage at City Opera, was present onstage. Needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house.

And then the opera began. For those not familiar with the "legend" of the Flying Dutchman, here is the Cliff Notes version: centuries ago, the Dutchman, a sea captain, while rounding southern Africa during a great storm, cried out that his ship would continue sailing, Satan be damned. Well, Satan heard him, and punished the Dutchman, his ship and crew, consigning them all to sail the seven seas for eternity, with no hope for salvation. In Wagner's version, an angel of mercy intervenes and tempers the sentence somewhat, giving the Dutchman a chance at salvation and redemption: every seven years, the Dutchman is permitted to bring his ship ashore. During his time on land, if the Dutchman can find a woman who will be faithful to him until death, his soul will be saved. Along comes Senta, who has been obsessed with the legend of the Flying Dutchman all her life; she meets and falls in love with him when he mysteriously appears, forgetting, for the moment, she is already engaged to someone else. The Dutchman becomes enraged upon learning of Senta's previous engagement, and sails off, disconsolate, for another seven years of torment. Senta, watching the ship sail away from a nearby clifftop, cries out to the Dutchman that she will remain faithful to him for all eternity, and leaps to her death into the sea. The Dutchman's ship sinks in the distance, and the curse has been broken: the Dutchman, due to Senta's devotion, sacrifice and selflessness, has finally found salvation.

While this very well mounted performance of an opera I have long loved played out before me, I began to think about how appropriate Wagner's redemptive storyline was for the occasion at hand: we were assembled that evening to honor and pay tribute to 400+ men and women, heroes all, who selflessly climbed the stairs of the Twin Towers that terrible day, all in an effort to protect and save their fellow New Yorkers. Before dying in the line of duty, these brave members of New York City's Fire Department and Police Department helped save the lives of thousands of New Yorkers on the morning of 9/11. It's very hard to believe that seven years have passed.

New Yorkers will never forget their Bravest and Finest, who selflessly gave their all to help us on 9/11/01, many of them paying the ultimate price in doing so. This is written in tribute to them.

May God bless them all -- they will never be forgotten.

First: 8(sic) EIGHT CUTS IN THE SCORE!

1)The steersman song's 1st strophe - consequence: the delicate balance of a strict strophe (1st) and the 2nd "corrupted" strophe (by insertions of one the "tempest" motives) is broken!

2)The usual (but not more tolerable for that) in the final part of the last Daland/Dutchman duet.

3)The also usual (and also intolerable!) on the 2nd of the 3 spinning song's strophes.

4)The 1st of Erik's aria 2 strophes (revolting!)

5)At the Dutchman/Daland/Senta trio "stretta".

6)At the 1st phrase Dutchman's Crew song!

7)The most stupefying one: the 2(sic), two bars that separate Erik's aria and the Dutchman's entrance ("Verloren, ach verloren" etc.)[note-this is actually a Wagner option for the very 1st version (http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-fliegende-Holländer-Paris-version/dp/B0006PV5SA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1220440752&sr=8-3) which has NO PLACE HERE!].

(Please Amazon! The Weil recording isn't the """Paris Version""" at all!!)

8) And the also also usual (and also...intolerable) right in the middle of Senta/Erik/Dutchman trio.

If one doubt that things really grow old, this movie gives ample evidence of the contrary; gritted teeth for despair, half-open mouth for sadness, confusion, despair. The major reason for this editing is that, back in 1975, opera people thought that Wagner operas form his first compositional period should be "corrected" (a kind of "wielandities")...this is a complete nonsense, because Wagner knew exactly how and what music he wanted to write in this period (the changes from the very first version [link above], the 1843 one and its ""Tristan-like-ending"" later version show preciselly the necessary alterations).

The press-release claims that this is the 2nd(1843) version, but it isn't, because the descending instrumental line just before the Dutchman's phrase ("...Erfahre das Geschick...") is played only by the strings, not by the brass section...on the other hand, senta sings the ballade a whole tone higher (A minor), a choice in the 2nd version, and the soprano's line just before the ballade, when she addresses the chorus, is also from the 1843 version.

This, Sawallisch 2nd recording is a "via-media" between his savage Bayreuth version and his late, sleepy one (on Laserdisc, no longer available). The conductor's unique use of rubato in Wagner, his intelligent view that this is a work from the beginning/middle of the 19th century (the conversational passages are really classical im articulation and tempi), his structural and textural clarity are the main assets here; the sound picture is warm (a little agressive sometimes, probably due to the limitations of the DVD medium, as far as the sound is concerned), with a acceptable "holographic" image, that just recedes at the loudest moments (the clash between the nowegians and the ghost crew). Transitions are expertly done, although the above-mentioned sleepyness raises its head already at some points. The conductoris at his weakest by the final trio and the Dutchman statement, when things are rushed and McIntyre, consequently, sounds a little puny.
This singer was at his height by then, with a true homogeneity of timbre, easyness in the whole tessitura, and a real understanding of the character's more fragile side (his "...weit komm'ich her, verwehrt bei Sturm und Wetter..." sounds almost with no vibrato, like a child), not flinching at any part of his monologue's, no matter how difficult it may be. His combination of text and articulation is also a paragon for the role, although he has some problems with "Umlaut" vowels.

Ligendza is second only to Varnay in the soprano part, for she not only sings it at its original pitch (as mentioned above), but hits all the notes dead-center, specially at the high B's ("...treu dir, bis zum Tod!"). His acting is a little stiff, but she isn't alone...

Winkler and Rundgren are what they are: top 2nd clas singers, Ek is a wide-eyed Steersman, chorus and Orch on "B" form.

How old the movie is? Well, suffice to day that the scene between the dutch and norwegian crew are a good teaser of what might be the "Night of the living dead; the musical", and the actual Senta's jump was like the one who is going very carefully inside a very cold bath, and, since this s "original" Staged performance, why the Dutchman and Senta sink into a seemingly bubbling hot sea? Still, for the lack of better...

I borrowed this DVD from our library with low expectations. My experience with opera films this old had not been good due to poor sound. When I put this disc on I was blown away. The sound is excellent, competing with current recordings most of the time. In addition I was not a fan of Sawallisch. He had conducted a very mushy Schumann Requiem which I returned to the library long before the due date. Bernard Klee (little known conductor) recorded an excellent Schumann Requiem which really showed what Sawallisch missed. Sawallisch is excellent with Hollander, equal or better than Kielberth, Solti or Dorati. In my opinion, the orchestra is fine and I found the instrumental balance more exciting than the Bayreuth DVD. The late 1980s DVD from Savolinna is not nearly as good, with much compressed sound and camera noise. Worse, Senta and Mary both have wide vibratos while the men sing well. I find it enjoyable up to the spinning scene.

Other than McIntyre, the singers are not familiar to me. All are excellent in my opinion with strong voices and accuracy, a combination that is very rare in newer Wagner recordings.

This is a lip sync film, and sync is not good in places. The singers don't look like they are working hard, as they are just "marking" and acting to the prerecorded sound. This is both good and bad. The sound is great because the sound engineers could concentrate on just recording sound with no interference from film people. In some ways opera is easier to watch when the more extreme facial contortions are left out. When confronted with stage problems, Wagner would suggest that someone should "try something". Had Film been available to Him, I suspect he would have been very interested.

My interest in opera started around 1960 when my great aunt gave me a bunch of Flagstad's 78 rpm records. Next I heard Nilson several times at the Met, once with Windgassen. In other words, spoiled rotten from the start. From this perspective, I am not holding out for a better Dutchman DVD.

The world is much louder today than in the 1930s and 1960s. Modern ears are somewhat deaf from all the noise,and as a result, singers must sing louder to make the same impression. Although newer recordings have less electronic distortion, older recordings have less distortion that originates in the singer's throat when sound pressure levels become very high. Air becomes increasingly non linear as sound levels increase. Early music singers compete with smaller orchestras in smaller houses and have fewer vocal problems. Their recordings are often free of both electronic and high sound level distortions.

The stage directing is in one sense very traditional and regietheater at the same time. Costumes are traditional. As an ex sailer, (sailing was my father's thing) this production really sets the right mood with very bad weather. Things start out with waves breaking over Daland's ship and everyone gets very wet. The Dutchman climbs down a rope ladder into dirty water and slogs around. On the otherhand Daland's house is very traditional and the women spin and sing beautifully. The Dutchman,s crew is very decrepid looking. They break into Daland's house but fade away as is only possible with film.

In my opinion Der Fliegende Hollander has a weak plot, but is saved by music that depicts the sea in a brilliant way. While the staging is variable, in this production , the effect overall is better than live. Nothing modern has been added, leaving the story in it's own time. I cannot think of a better introduction to Wagner than this DVD. There is no nudity or crude gestures, making this great viewing for all ages.

I find this production too overly dramatic and too pushy with it's scenery, props, and dramatizations. It would be great for kids though! A good way to introduce a family and children to Opera!

I prefer the live production with Salminen and Behrens with Leif Segerstam conducting, which is still extrordinary!

Once again Mike Birman has written such an ample and enticing review of this filmed opera that I feel no obligation to do more than refer you to him. In fact, I bought this DVD on Mike's recommendation, and I'm grateful. I'm hardly a steady booster of Richard Wagner; I've been known to declare that he was a major influence on opera but a minor composer. Let's also admit that I distrust his philosophical burden. The Flying Dutchman, however, is an honest evening's entertainment, an eerie ghost story with rollicking sailors and comely house-maidens. The prominence of two expressive roles for basses, with extended bass duets, makes the opera attractive to guys like me, who might otherwise choose to watch baseball.

The "legend" of the Flying Dutchman was brought to Wagner's attention by the greatest German poet of the 19th Century, the Jew Heinrich Heine. Wagner apparently used Heine's "Memoirs of Herr von Schnabelwopski" as his main source. The drama, for once, is compact and coherent. The whole production is a merciful 117 minutes of excitement.

On a personal note: Oddly, I didn't remember that I played the French horn part in the overture to this opera when I was 16 years old, at a summer honors camp for high school orchestra musicians. I switched from horn to bassoon the next year, but not because of Wagner. Honestly, I loved playing that overture and remembered it well enough to hum along with the horn. It's a pretty major composition for a minor composer.