Der fliegende Holländer

Géza Oberfrank
Chorus and Orchestra of the Hungrian State Opera Budapest
Date/Location
17 May 1997
State Opera Budapest
Recording Type
  live   studio
  live compilation   live and studio
Cast
Daland Gábor Kenesey
Senta Mária Temesi
Erik János Bándi
Mary Annamária Kovács
Der Steuermann Dalands József Hormai-Horváth
Der Holländer Mihály Kálmándi
Stage director Gábor Miklós Kerényi
Set designer ?
TV director
Gallery
Reviews
Opera

The last revival of the season, on May 17, was Der fliegende Hollander. The production, by Gabor Kerenyi-Miklos, was a partial reconstruction of an earlier Szeged production. The producer can create an atmosphere, and is full of ideas about how to breathe life into every musical motif and theatrical conflict. However, these ideas are not always very appropriate to the situation: his conception of Senta—undoubtedly an emotionally unbalanced girl, but not to the extent she was made to be in this performance—made her hardly seem the one who will redeem the Dutchman, more like someone in need of redemption herself. On the other hand, it was an excellent idea of the producer’s to bring the protagonist on to the stage in Act 2. The orchestra, conducted by Geza Oberfrank, did not really excel themselves on the first night. The heroic baritone of Mihaly Kalmandi, imposingly strong and bright, came over perfectly in the difficult part of the Dutchman. Maria Temesi made a good Senta, but her soprano is rather weightier than the part demands, so that one sensed a certain strain in her highest notes. Perhaps the best was Janos Bandi, as Erik, with a ringing, robust tenor, musical line and graphic delivery. Gabor Kenesey as Daland was more praiseworthy for his portrayal of the part than for the quality of his vocal material.

Rating
(5/10)
User Rating
(3/5)
Media Type/Label
Technical Specifications
640×480, 1.2 Mbit/s, 1.2 GByte, 4:3 (MPEG-4)
Remarks
Looks like an in-house tape.
Sung in Hungarian