Things start very promisingly with very well played overture, highly energised in the strenuous storm passages and lyrical in the yearning love music. The sound, too, is immediately very pleasing: vivid, open and spacious. The male chorus makes a splendid impression with its repeated cries of “Hallojo!”. Then comes the first disappointment: the pulse – indeed wobble – in Ain Anger’s bass is distracting and as such his singing gives little pleasure. The tenor of Steersman, Richard Tray Smagur, is strong but not entirely guiltless of the same flaw and indeed his voice evinces some strain; he hardly measures up to more nuanced, flexible singers from classic recordings such as Josef Traxel, Ernst Haeflinger, Werner Krenn and, of course, Fritz Wunderlich, who all manage to sound dreamy and lyrical – and sometimes even aptly tired, too, as he is meant to be dropping off on watch.

I am unsure what to make of Brian Mulligan’s Dutchman. His lighter bass-baritone is more in the mould of the recent Gerald Finley and Josef Metternich back in 1952 for Ferenc Fricsay, without the massive heft and dark resonance of my favourite Dutchmen, George London, Hermann Uhde, Franz Crass and Norman Bailey. He is certainly involved and impassioned but it must also be said that the upper half of his voice turns oddly nasal and biting at volume, evincing a glottal catch – almost a bleat – which sounds anguished but isn’t actually a very attractive sound. He in no sense eclipses Hans Hotter and co., any more than Anger is preferable to Gottlob Frick, Karl Ridderbusch or Martti Talvela.

Maya Yahav Gouris a pleasantly fruity, “big-sisterly” (word? Apparently the female equivalent of “avuncular” I need is “materteral”…perhaps not…) Mary – but the entrance of Senta brings another disappointment: she, too, is very matronly with – you’ve guessed it – an over-pronounced vibrato and a distressing tendency to sing consistently just under the note – or perhaps that is a function of that pulse pulling the centre of tone down. The intonation of her topmost notes is more secure, although I cannot but compare her unfavourably with Lise Davidsen’s laser production – or going back in time, Astrid Varnay whose dramatic soprano, while not flawless, falls more gratefully on the ear.

That leaves Eric – surely one of the most unrewarding of major tenor roles in Wagner – or indeed in opera, pace Richard Strauss’ victimisation of his tenors. Bryan Register battles manfully, deploying an tenor of no special tonal distinction, again prone to strain and aspiration and one besetting fault…and I’ll give you one guess what that is…

I have no criticism of van Zweden’s conducting other than to observe than it is more unobtrusive and non-interventionist than I might have expected from a man with a reputation for being a firebrand.

Unfortunately, very little about this live recording makes it desirable.

Ralph Moore | September 16, 2025

One of the great early successes of Naxos’s opera catalogue was an outstanding recording of Der fliegende Holländer (9/93). Pinchas Steinberg conducted the forces of Austrian Radio, with a cast including Alfred Muff as the Dutchman and the late Peter Seiffert, early in his career, as Erik – ‘On no other version, or indeed performance on stage, have I heard an Erik to equal Seiffert’, wrote Alan Blyth in his review. Now, nearly three decades late, another Naxos Holländer finally makes landfall, courtesy of the same forces that brought us Naxos’s impressive Hong Kong Ring.

As anyone familiar with that recording will expect, there’s fine playing to enjoy from the Hong Kong Phil, and Jaap van Zweden once again shows himself adept at whipping up a dramatic storm. There’s rhythmic bite, with well-drilled strings in particular (as you’d expect on the watch of a former Concertgebouw concertmaster) and warm, expressive work from the orchestra’s brass.

If the orchestral standards are high, though, the vocal performances are more mixed, suffering in comparison to the early recording – or indeed to May’s Recording of the Month under Edward Gardner. Van Zweden’s Dutchman is Brian Mulligan, an impressive singer who’s been making his mark across the Wagnerian spectrum. And he’s certainly got the voice for the role: forceful, imposing and tireless, if not especially noble in timbre. This recording, however, was made only a couple of months after his role debut. The characterisation will surely deepen as time goes by; as captured here, some of the drama, the richness of the character’s gnarly torment, is missing.

There’s no doubting the commitment of Jennifer Holloway as Senta, and she captures the character’s mixture of wide-eyed wonder and steely singlemindedness well, even if for me her timbre lacks the ideal cutting edge a Senta needs. Bryan Register’s effortful Erik, alas, is no match for Seiffert’s, and Ain Anger feels somewhat miscast as a woolly Daland. Richard Trey Smagur sounds unrefined when compared to the many fine lyric tenors to sing the Steersman elsewhere on recordings. The soloists are placed forward in the balance, but the two choruses are a little distant.

Mixed results, then, from Naxos’s return to this work, but further proof nonetheless of the Hong Kong Phil’s – and van Zweden’s – solid Wagner credentials.

Hugo Shirley | Issue AW2025

Von 2015 bis 2018 ist bei dem Label Naxos Wagners Ring des Nibelungen unter der musikalischen Leitung von Jaap van Zweden auf CD herausgekommen. Nicht nur der beeindruckenden Leistung des Dirigenten war es zu verdanken, dass diese Ring-Aufnahme damals zu einem großen Erfolg geriet. Da wurden Wünsche nach weiteren Wagner-Aufnahmen unter van Zwedens Leitung wach. Dieser Wunsch ist nun endlich erfüllt worden: Bei Naxos ist jetzt eine Aufnahme von Wagners romantischer Oper Der fliegende Holländer neu auf CD erschienen. Und es bleiben wahrlich keine Wünsche offen. Um das Fazit einmal vorwegzunehmen. Diese hochkarätige Einspielung ist unbedingt empfehlenswert!

Mustergültig gelingt es Jaap van Zweden, Wagners Musik seinen ganz eigenen Stempel aufzudrücken. Seine Herangehensweise an das Werk ist kompakt, zupackend und von markanten Akzenten geprägt. Er schlägt flüssige Tempi an, lässt dabei aber eine vorbildliche Transparenz nicht vermissen. Da werden viele Einzelheiten hörbar. Auf Nuancierungen versteht sich der Dirigent ebenso gut wie auf das Aufrechterhalten von Spannung. Das bestens disponierte Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra setzt die Intentionen des Dirigenten beherzt, mit perfektem Einfühlungsvermögen sowie sehr klangschön um. Insgesamt haben wir es hier mit einem ebenmäßig dahinfliessenden, klaren und differenzierten Klangteppich zu tun, den anzuhören Freude bereitet.

Ebenfalls auf hohem Niveau bewegen sich die gesanglichen Leistungen. Durch die Bank wird hier trefflich im Körper gesungen, was eine Seltenheit ist. Das hochkarätige Ensemble wird von Brian Mulligan angeführt, der mit großer Stimmkraft, ausgemachter Intensität und enormer Ausdruckskraft einen brillanten Holländer singt. Einen imposanten jugendlich-dramatischen Sopran, der ein ebenmäßiges Legato, sichere Spitzentöne und viel Gefühl aufweist, bringt Jennifer Holloway in die Partie der Senta ein. Sonores Bass-Material zeichnet den Daland von Ain Anger aus. Ansprechend schneidet der elegant singende Zwischenfach-Tenor von Bryan Register als Erik ab. Übertroffen wird er von Richard Trey Smagur, dessen Steuermann geradezu heldische Züge aufweist. Mit elegantem Mezzosopran wertet Maya Yahav Gour die kleine Rolle der Mary auf. Einen großartigen Eindruck hinterlassen der Netherlands Radio Choir und der Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus.

Ludwig Steinbach | 21. September 2025