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What our customer's say!

"Senta at the center", In staging this opera, Harry Kupfer makes a single radical decision that drives the production like a full force gale: he presents the appearance of the Dutchman as Senta's delusion. She fixes on the romantic legend of a sailor doomed to roam the seas forever until he can be saved by a woman's love in order to escape from the confines of the life she is destined for, and to assuage the pain of her love for a huntsman, Erik, who loves her in return, but whose poverty insures that her father will reject him as a suitable husband.

Kupfer makes this work by having Senta on stage continually from the outset. Even during the overture she is shown waiting out the storm with her nurse Mary and the women of the village, cradling the portrait of the Dutchman.

Thus an inevitable conflict starts to take shape between Senta's fantasy world and the oppressive realities of her existence. As it unfolds, we witness something far more like Ibsen than anything previously associated with Wagner. Yet what is remarkable is how well everything else in the opera conspires with this new view. For example, the Dutchman's wealth is an essential part of Senta's delusion because it assures her father's consent to the match, thus allowing her to be a good daughter even as she finds romantic fulfillment--something not possible with Erik.

The end of the opera is devastating: tragedy rather than romantic apotheosis. In a traditional production, the Dutchman believes that Senta is unfaithful to him because he sees her with Erik. But Senta is telling her former lover to leave her. Does the Dutchman require that she not even talk to other men, or that her fidelity be retroactive? In Kupfer's production, Erik's reminder that she had previously sworn fidelity to him precipitates a psychological crisis that culminates in her suicide. At the end, Erik alone remains by Senta's body while the rest of the villagers slam their windows shut.

But concept is by no means this production's only strength. The staging--in which the walls of Senta's house literally fly away as her imagination takes flight--is brilliantly done. The Dutchman's ship is wonderfully macabre. All of the elements of Senta's social world are solidly 19th century Norwegian; unlike many non-traditional stagings, no attempt is made to change or generalize the place and time of the action.

Somehow, the music benefits from the edginess of Kupfer's interpretation. Musically, this isn't really the Wagner we've come to know through Tristan and the Ring--it's an earlier phase of German opera, like Weber on steroids. In fact, at the time Dutchman was written, Wagner was championing Bellini. The long shadow of Senta's dilemma gives the opera greater unity, and adds pathos and weight to the sweeter moments of the score.

Of course, it helps that the music is in remarkably capable hands. The orchestral direction and playing is magnificent. The cast is superb, almost a dream cast. Other reviewers have given high praise to Simon Estes and Matti Salminen, and I fully agree. Robert Schunk makes the most of his opportunity to portray Erik in a sympathetic light (for once, he's not the fly in the romantic ointment, but the one person who really loves Senta). Lizbeth Balslev sings superbly and superbly realizes Senta's "hypersensitive, hysterical" character, a character she successfully maintains onstage through all 135 minutes of this nonstop opera.

Search through the opera DVDs on Amazon and you'll find scores of productions that attempt to "re-envision" an opera. Many of them don't work. This one does, and brilliantly. Even if you generally don't like "non-traditional" productions, I encourage you to give this one a try.

"Over the top, like Wagner wrote it.", This is a well-conducted, well-sung performance that, due to the director,stage designer and TV director becomes a great DVD. This is the first performance of Fliegende Hollander I have seen that is faithful to the almost insane intensity of Wagner's creation. Realistically, how does one make sense of Senta? Kupfer's brooding, internal, dreaming, romantic/compassionate heroine matches the self-focused dreaming of Wagner's longing for a "perfect woman", loving, attracted to him, yet eternally nurturant. The staging illuminates the work" the first appearance of the Dutchman's ship is chilling; Estes and Bailey make their duet an ecstatic dance of two people longing to meet yet dodging the meeting.

"Matti Salminen steals the show", This performance should be titled: "The Story of the Sea Captain Who Sells his Daughter."

"The best performer", Listen "HOLLANDER... from this Complette - Wagner: Complete Operas

Label: Membran / Documents Catalog #: 223053
Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Franz Klarwein, Luise Willer, Viorica Ursuleac, Georg Hann, Hans Hotter,
Karl Ostertag, August Seider, Karl Paul, Margarete Bäumer, Marianne Schech,
Otto von Rohr, Benno Kusche, Eleanor Steber, Josef Greindl, Hans Braun,
Hermann Uhde, Astrid Varnay, Wolfgang Windgassen, Bodo Brinkmann, Tiny Peters,
Ortrun Wenkel, Wolfgang Neumann, Carla Pohl, Zlatomira Nikolova, Frode Olsen,
Gabriele Maria Ronge, Edward Cook, Malcolm Smith, John Wegner, Simon Yang,
Wilja Ernst-Mosuraitis, Hans-Jorg Weinschenk, Oleg Bryjak, Markku Tervo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau,
Ludwig Suthaus, Kirsten Flagstad, Edgar Evans, Blanche Thebom, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
Otto Edelmann, Hans Hopf, Erich Kunz, Ira Malaniuk, Gerhard Unger,
Arnold Van Mill, George London, Ludwig Weber, Martha Mödl, Erna Schlüter,
Gunther Treptow, Helmut Fehn, Trude Eipperle, Rudolf Gonszar, Willy Hofmann,
Josef Lindlar, Artur Korn, Raimo Sirkiä, Manuela Kriscak, Jyrki Korhonen,
Ulrike Sonntag, Sue Patchell, Willy Friedrich, Hannelore Steffek, Kurt Equiluz,
Ludwig Welter, Anton Dermota, Hilde Zadek, Franz Handlos, Ernst Salzer
Conductor: Clemens Krauss, Robert Heger, Joseph Keilberth, Günter Neuhold, Wilhelm Furtwängler,
Herbert von Karajan, Hans Knappertsbusch, Winfried Zillig, Gabor Otvos
Orchestra/Ensemble: Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra,
Bayreuth Festival Chorus, Badische State Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus,
Philharmonia Orchestra, Hessian Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, Cagliari Theater Chorus,
Cagliari Theater Orchestra, Austrian Radio Chorus, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

Number of Discs: 43
Recorded in: Mixed
Imported from: European Union

This -more ,that i waiting.

"Intro to Wagner", I have never seen nor heard a Wagnerian opera before and was intimidated, but wanted to try. Dutchman was his shortest opera and most "traditional" so I thought it would be a good introduction for me.
I believe that I was correct. I enjoyed this opera a great deal, perhaps even more than I expected to.
My main complaint for this opera is Senta. The woman who sang her role looked crazy the entire time, like a patient escaped from a mental hospital. Perhaps that was the intent, but it detracted from my enjoyment. It was not making the whole thing her dream that bothered me but the deranged look she had on her face the entire time and her spasmodic movements.
The rest of the cast was good though it was odd to see a black man repeatedly referred to as pale. {For what it's worth, for all the white Aida's who've worn make-up to look black, why couldn't Estes have worn make-up to look "pale"?}
For me, this opera met its objectives. I have heard a Wagnerian opera and enjoyed it. I am looking forward to broadening my listening horizons further. A few years from now I may even be ready to listen to the Ring!

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Terrifying Hollander", For those of us who couldn't get to Bayreuth to see this much-
discussed production of Der Fliegende Hollander, this DVD pro-
vides an excellent close approximation.

Whatever one may have heard about this "controversial" product-
ion, put your opinions aside, and "enjoy" a terrifying ride.

From the initial scene of women and girls watching a thunder-
storm outside, and worrying at the same time about their sailor
folk, THIS seems right in and of itself-the older women sit over
a communal teapot, while the girls are watched over by an atten-
tive Mary, who also is keeping an eye on the obsessed Senta.

The concept of having Senta dreaming of a way out, a very drastic, however romantic it may be, of her circumscribed life
as a village dweller, soon to face a humdrum life as a hausfrau
spinning her life away while enduring long waits for her menfolk
is a brilliant concept. The sight of not one, but TWO Dutchman
figures, one a reality of a bargained marriage, the other of a
dream-obsession figure is chilling, sinister, and one just knows
this will have a bad outcome, once reality clashes with the inner madness-and it does: Senta dreams of marrying her ideal
dream nightmare figure, and the imagined wedding party is subse-
quently chased off by unseen nightmares.

Erik the hunter comes off as one of the few characters grounded
in reality, and he tries desperately to wake Senta from a disas-
trous obsession. But she cannot handle the clash of reality be-
tween reality and madness, and faced with the reality of a cir-
cumscribed narrow village life, she jumps out of her window.
What happens next is shocking: all the villagers turn their backs on the now-dead Senta and grieving Erik, and slam shut their windows-absolutely shocking.

This is the sad reality-when someone could not break free of their desired escape from a dreary life-they retreat into madness.

Going back to Wagner's original orchestration is also a brilliant concept, as one can see how frightening it was to the
1840's audiences. It IS dark and gloomy, no good can come of it, and it is a frightening piece, as it is meant to be. It is
not a piece of froth, it reeks of the sea, and it's violence.

This is a must-have disc, as it dispells much of the romantic
cliches that have barnacled this opera.

"Bayreuth at its Best", The production on this DVD represents the best that Bayreuth, if not opera itself, can be.

Kupfer and his forces attain Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk. Everything supports Kupfer's idea that the events are a product of Senta's desperate attempt to escape the crushing dullness of her Ibsenesqe reality. Sykora's sets fly up and down, fold in and out, to move from gray confinement to desperate escape. Balslev's voice, face, and body perfectly convey Senta's psychotic state. Mary seems somewhat shady, Eric maintains a constants state of panic, and Daland ends up helpless. The blocking of the chorus alternately represents the disapproval of Senta's peers (in the second act) and the wild product of her imagination (in the third). The choice of the harder Dresden version of the score, especially at the end, suits the ultimate failure to which both the Dutchman and Senta are doomed.

Even the Bayreuth production style - no audience, no images of the conductor and orchestra, no curtain calls - helps to underscore that this is cold reality in spite of a thrilling theatrical performance.

The musical forces meet the high standard set by the production. Salminen, as usual, pours out floods of his richly sonorous, distinctive bass. Estes sings as strong as he looks, while maintaining a smooth legato. Balslev tackles Senta - a role as hard if not as long as Isolde - successfully. Her bottom and top are equally strong and the sound of her voice, strong yet fragile, fits the part. When you have someone the caliber of Graham Clark singing the Steuermann, you know even the smaller parts have been cast with an eye to quality singing. The principle singers had been in this production for seven seasons (ironically, the same amount of time the Dutchman was cursed to sail the seas) by the time the performance was recorded and their experience shows in their execution.

Nelsson presides over a fast, assured reading of the score. Brian Large deserves special mention for his direction of the video. Senta always being on stage (even when Wagner doesn't have here there) must have presented a particular challenge. Large maintains an adroit balance cutting between Senta and the main action, and otherwise stays out of the way.

The video quality is good for 1985; just don't try to zoom in on a scene. The sound is excellent. There are no extras to speak of; the production speaks for itself.

If you care about Wagner, opera, theater, or art, buy this DVD.

"SIMON AT HIS VERY BEST", I own many recordings of the "Flying Dutchman" including a CD of this staged performance which has, for sometime, been my very favorite recording of the opera. I really believe that this recording captures Simon Estes at his considerable best. His singing is overwhelming. This performance proves that he was a MAJOR talent in the operatic firmament. How unfortunate it was that he did not always maintain this high level of singing in other portrayals. I feel that if he had maintained this standard of singing, he would now be considered one of opera's greatest bass-baritones of all times. Anyway, his singing in this performance captures him at his very best-great intonation, loads of controlled power along with the required introspective soft well-controlled singing-and does he ever have stamina sounding as fresh at the close of the opera as he does at its beginning! Visually, his portrayal of the Dutchman is very sensual indeed-I can see why Senta was so besotted and loony for him (whether he is real or not!).
Lizbeth Balsev is a wonderful Senta. She is able to vocally and thrillingly ride the orchestra when required and tone it all down to sing softly when required. She portrays Senta's mania very well. She is visually very believable in the role as well as being able to vocally do anything that Wagner throws at her from the full throttled "blow them off the stage" type of singing (with no hint of strain) to the most delicate well-controlled soft "unworldly" type of singing. Brava!
The rest of the cast is also great. Salminen is simply awesome-is that voice really coming from a human throat? Schunk sings the impossible role of Erik wonderfully and powerfully; the best that I've ever heard having no audible problems with its cruel tessitura! (He doesn't crack once as I have heard many other tenors do in this role!)
Nelsson whips the Bayreuth orchestra into an effective "oceanic wild froth"; it is really exciting to hear! None of the opera seems to drag as in some of the other recordings that I've heard (e.g., the Levine recording especially).
The chorus is marvelous contributing much excitement to the opera (the tenors in the chorus are a standout being unbelievably good from sweet soft head tones to full bodied stirring high notes)
The score is given (I believe) complete including that marvelously exciting stretta-section after the trio which is usually cut. (Possibly because the singers have worn themselves out with the preceding duet and trio. Nevertheless, these singers-- almost literally whipped into a frenzy with Balsev popping full throttled high note after high note (while prone and crawling on the floor)--sing it for all its worth bring the scene vocally to a thrilling close; they raise the excitement level to the "fevered-pitch" reading on the "opera excitement measuring machine" making the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall-WOW!)
The production is rather modern; however, it is comprehensible even to someone as unsophisticated as I.
In spite of a few audible scenery clunks along with footsteps, the sound is great and the picture is crystal clear in this DVD format. I'm really thrilled to have a visual to go along with my favorite recording of this thrilling masterpiece.