Concert Review: The Flying Dutchman

Concert Review: The Flying Dutchman

April 26, Metropolitan Opera
Wagner: the Flying Dutchamn

The Flying Dutchman has always been a favorite of mine. Although the plot and libretto are rather absurd and a challenge for any production, the music is headstrong and full of romantic ardor. It is also not overly long. :-)

I attended the second performance on the day the NYT review came out, with general praise of the singers but a severe thumbing down of the conductor, Kazushi Ono. As my interest in the opera lies more in the sweeping orchestral score rather than the vocal writing, I attended with some apprehension.

The family circle audience looked quite different from usual, many younger people, blacks and Hispanics that we don't often see in such numbers. Judging by the way they acted, many were in the venue for the first time. When the light dimmed there were a few yells of "Bravo". This, at the start of the performance! Defenders of Ono? I suspect tickets were distributed through "alternative" channels, at least for this performance.

The first few minutes of the overture was indeed quite rough, the solo's unfeeling, and I prepared for the worst. Slowly, the orchestra warmed up and throughout the evening played with beauty and sureness. Although lacking in the utmost grandeur and atmosphere, Ono paced the opera well and my attention never sagged. Except for the opening bit, I didn't detect the problems noted in the NYT review.

I'd not dwell on the vocals too much. Deborah Voigt was powerful, but I found her German ennuciation too studied and her high notes rather metallic to be completely satisfactory. I was pleasantly surprised by the lyrical singing of Stephen Gould, which he held steady to the end. As the Dutchman, Uusitalo certainly did not match up to Jose Van Dam (who does these days), whom I heard in the awful Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production decades ago. I must say this production is a lot better than that pretentious one.