WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman, Blu-ray (2015)

by | May 14, 2015 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman, Blu-ray (2015)

Cast: Bryn Terfel, Anja Kampe, Liliana Nikiteanu, Matti Salminen, Marco Jentzsch
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon [3/17/15]
Director: Alain Altinoglu
Video: 16:9 1080i HD Color
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean
Length: 140 minutes
Ratings: Video: ***½   Audio: ****½

Remember the Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)?  Then you’ll know the title refers to the three characters played by Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach respectively. Excuse me if I borrow that title to describe this recent production. However, instead of the characters, it will describe three components of this production.

First, the good. The sound is magnificent. Although performed in front of a live audience, you never hear a cough, a giggle, or a program rustle. It is superbly miked, and the characters, probably outfitted with inconspicuous body microphones, never drop a word or even a single note. Conductor Alain Altinoglu serves the justly famous overture with vigor and passion. The chorus of sailors is spot on with their masculine posing and stirring marches. The Act III Sailors’ Chorus (“Steuermann! Lass die Wacht!”) is as high-spirited as it should be.

In contrast, the chorus of village girls is alternately sweet and wan. The well-known “Spinning Chorus” is expressive and deftly turn to mockery, as an antidote to Senta’s dreamy romanticism. And Senta herself? Anja Kampe sings the role with dedication, intelligence, and even a dollop of seductiveness. Her rendition of “Senta’s Ballad” (“Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an”) is convincing and poignant. (When she decides to pursue the Dutchman, she strips down to her nightgown and thereafter exudes pure voluptuousness.) In his role as Vanderdecken (the Dutchman), baritone Bryn Terfel doesn’t disappoint, although in some scenes his acting falls into a brooding pit. His voice sounds determined – even authoritative – and anguished when necessary. If this were a CD set, I would play it in my car. Frequently.

Next, the bad. Stage director Andreas Homoki and set designer Wolfgang Gussman – not sure who did what – take modernist liberties with the mise-en-scène – not always successful. Both the sailors and the village maidens are decked out like characters from “The Crimson Permanent Assurance” sketch [Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983)]. It’s disconcerting at first, but you get used to it (particularly when Senta abandons her restrictive robes). In Act I, when the Dutchman delivers his first anguished aria, Senta appears in the background  – as what? A premonition? – and lurks off. It’s a real head-scratcher, since she is not supposed to appear until Act II. In Act III, there’s a brief moment in which the sailors mock Senta’s erstwhile swain Erik the Huntsman, a throwaway gesture that comes out of nowhere. There’s a silly CGI graphic of the ocean, which looks purloined from the Disney cartoon Frozen. And it’s one tricky device: Sometimes it’s film, sometimes it’s a picture. Once, it appears with a non-spooky ship gliding across it. At the end, Senta does indeed commit suicide, but instead of theatrically leaping off a promontory, she gruesomely shoots herself with Erik’s rifle. We are cheated of the standard scene in which her ghost sails off in the Flying Dutchman, nestled in the arms of a translucent Vanderdecken. Maybe the CGI department had a budget overrun.

Finally, the ugly. I don’t want to dwell on this, but in the final scene, Daland’s sailors are supposed to be just scared off by the Flying Dutchman zombies. In this production, the undead attack through a brutal stereotype: a loin-clothed African with a spear. Then, in a loopy WTF moment, arrows appear out of nowhere and slaughter the crew. Maybe Wagner would have approved. His biography is certainly tarnished with anti-Semitism and racism. But this is a particularly nasty interpretation of his libretto. Shame!

Despite my previous two paragraphs, I give this Blu-ray a thumbs up. The two principals are great singers and they carry the (unnecessarily confusing) plot steadily along with some of Wagner’s most magnificent music.

—Peter Bates

Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01