“Der fliegende Holländer” – GBOPERA

Turin, Teatro Regio, Opera and ballet season 2023/24
“DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER”
Romantic opera in three acts with a libretto by Richard Wagner
Music by Richard Wagner
Der Holländer BRIAN MULLIGAN
Look JOHANNI VAN OOSTRUM
Daland GIDEON SAKS
Erik ROBERT WATSON
Mary ANNELY PEEBO
Der Steuermann MATTHEW SWENSEN
Orchestra and choir of the Teatro Regio
Director Nathalie Stutzmann
Choir master Ulysses Trabacchin
Director’s shot Riccardo Fracchia
Scenes and costumes Wolfgang Gussmann
Lights Hans Tölstede
Turin, 19 May 2024
The curse ofFlying Dutchman seems to have accompanied the revival of Wagnerian opera in Turin. The evaluation of the voice cast is in fact quite complex considering the problematic health conditions of two of the main performers. Announced as indisposed even before the performance Gidon Saks Daland resolves more with craft than with actual vocal quality. We recognize a good harmony with the role and an interesting interpretative approach in portraying a character, particularly severe and authoritative despite the underlying narrowness. Unfortunately, his singing was so limited by health problems that an objective evaluation was impossible.
Not dissimilar situation for Senta di Johanni Van Oostrum. Although not announced as being indisposed, the South African singer immediately appeared in less than optimal conditions, confirmed by rumors gathered in the room. The vocal material is interesting and the performer shows notable sensitivity in portraying a character – in this perfectly in line with the direction – substantially isolated in his own world, closed in his own obsessions to the point of madness. Unfortunately, her voice was not able to support her in this regard with an often labored emission which pushed her to give up almost all the high notes for safety and to play a large part of the role in defense. She has the merit of not being overwhelmed but obviously it is a highly conditioned performance.
The Dutch of Brian Mulligan However, he does not lack vocal brilliance and sings with confidence and ownership. The voice has good projection and handles the difficulties of the part without excessive difficulty. His vocal timbre is not too convincing, decidedly too clear and almost tenor-like, incapable of conveying the tormented nature of the Dutchman, especially since as an interpreter he appears quite generic and superficial.
Erik di is vocally solid and well centered Robert Watson convincing in a role that is essentially very linear but in which he highlights a pleasant tenor vocality. The ringing helmsman of was definitely successful Matthew Swensen and Mary is precise and never over the top Annely Peebo.
Much awaited Nathalie Stutzmann must shape the direction to the situation contingent. After a rather surprising overture due to its unusual and not always convincing rhythmic and dynamic choices, what we hear is a mediation – and we must recognize Stutzmann’s ability to find a good point of synthesis – between a dark and coruscating vision, in which only slowly and with difficulty the themes of redemption seem to make their way and the need for lighter sounds and a rhythm shaped to support the singers’ difficulties. The particularity of the situation prevents a clear judgment also for his performance, which however must be recognized for his ability to adapt to difficulties while managing to maintain an overall coherent reading.
The Regio orchestra seems to be somewhat affected by this climate of tension – and also tiredness given the extremely short rehearsal times which may have had a negative impact on all the components. It cannot be said that the orchestra plays badly, indeed some very beautiful sounds were heard, but some greater than usual inaccuracies were noticed. The performance of the choir, however, was simply sumptuous – both in the male and female sections – which allowed the choral pages – among the most well-known and enthralling of the work – to emerge with all their strength. Sure of the quality of the choral masses, Stutzmann also seems to break the deadlock in these moments so that precisely these pages are the ones that shine most in this edition.
The show of Willy Decker It is now more than twenty years old but continues to have its effectiveness. The reading is certainly very particular, while substantially respecting the space-time coordinates of the booklet, the show profoundly distorts its essence. Decker looks at opera through the Nordic literature – and above all the theater – of the end of the century, when romanticism was behind us and a new sensibility rose with a sense of inevitable madness was establishing itself. Bourgeois environments in which the sea is limited to the paintings that decorate the walls, clear and cold lights, and in the center a heroine who is immediately on the verge of madness. The world is that of Ibsen’s plays where the ghosts are those that the mind builds in a doll’s house from which death in its tragic banality – no matter how much we try to dress it up with illusory utopias of salvation – represents the only escape route. What you see is perpetually suspended between reality and madness, between real space and projections of Senta’s mind which cannot understand the boundaries because reality is how the individual sees it and deforms it. A show that in his extreme vision may legitimately arouse perplexity but which must be recognized as having an undeniable coherence that the years that have passed since its creation have not undermined.
Room not crowded but good audience presence and good general success of the production. Photo Daniele Ratti