Der fliegende Holländer

Gianandrea Noseda
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro Regio Torino
Date/Location
12 October 2012
Teatro Regio Torino
Recording Type
  live   studio
  live compilation   live and studio
Cast
Daland Steven Humes
Senta Adrianne Pieczonka
Erik Stephen Gould
Mary Nicole Bandera
Der Steuermann Dalands Vicente Ombuena
Der Holländer Mark S. Doss
Gallery
Reviews
theoperacritic.com

Willy Decker’s Dutchman sails into Turin

As a prelude to the Wagner year, Turin’s Teatro Regio opened its new season with his romantic opera Der Fliegende Holländer, conducted by the company’s artistic and musical director Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Willy Decker, in a 2000 production from Opéra national de Paris.

At the Paris premiere Decker said in an interview that the sea cannot be brought to the stage, nor can a ship, and the storm could at the best be evoked by the interior struggle of the protagonists. Still, the floor of the large and empty room in Senta’s house that fills up the whole stage looks very much like a ship’s deck, and when the door opens, and the colors of the sea peep out, the waves in the painting that covers the background seem to surround the scene, and the room itself turns into Daland’s ship.

Maestro Noseda decided to perform the opera in a compacted version without intermissions, which perfectly suited the stage director’s concept and apparently satisfied an unfulfilled wish of the composer.

Senta is shown looking at the Dutchman’s portrait in front of the giant painting of a sea storm during the overture. The light then turns to the stage, where Daland’s seamen spend the night on the stark deck, until the Ducthman comes to ask for shelter. When the men move out, Senta and the weavers come in and sit on the bare floor, sowing a large sail and singing their tunes. As Senta recalls the Dutchman’s legend, Erik comes to her in distress. But he cannot keep Senta from being struck as she sees the Dutchman, who can be seen from the audience only as a shadow behind the door.

As the seamen try to invite the Dutchman’s crew to drink with them, the background turns red and some ghosts move behind a screen. Then the Dutchman comes in again, Senta struggles with Erik, but cannot follow her beloved, who disappears behind the closing door. Contrary to tradition, she kills herself with a dagger, perhaps the least compelling idea in an otherwise quite convincing staging.

On the musical side, Maestro Noseda, who had conducted the opera ten years ago at the Mariinsky, decided to give the plainest possible reading of the score, but the orchestra sounded somewhat perplexed, and failed to compel.

Mark S. Doss was making his debut in the title role, and will certainly deepen his interpretation in the future. Adrianne Pieczonka was a quite neurotic Senta, with a nice ringing voice. Steven Humes was not especially impressive as Daland, while Stephen Gould as Erik sported a heavy voice, which caused him problems in a role which is much more lyric than Wagner’s later tenor roles.

A special mention is deserved for the chorus, instructed by Claudio Fenoglio.

Silvia Luraghi | Teatro Regio di Torino 14 October 2012

Rating
(4/10)
User Rating
(2/5)
Media Type/Label
Technical Specifications
320 kbit/s CBR, 44.1 kHz, 300 MByte (MP3)
Remarks
Broadcast (RAI 3)
A production by Willy Decker (premiere)