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.
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
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.
Room not crowded but good audience presence and good general success of the production. Photo Daniele Ratti
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