Wagner Opera The Flying Dutchman
Der Fliegende Holländer in Three Acts, Redemption Through Love
The three-act romantic opera Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) was composed by Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883). He also wrote the libretto in German based on Heinrich Heine's 1834 satirical novel "The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski" .
The Flying Dutchman was first performed at the Court Opera Hoftheater, Dresden, January 2nd, 1843. The setting is in the Norwegian Coast, at an unspecified time.
The Flying Dutchman Character List
- The Dutchman, (bass-baritone)
- Daland, A Norwegian sea-captain (bass)
- Senta, his daughter (soprano)
- Mary, Her nurse (contralto)
- Erik, A forester (tenor)
- A Helmsman on Daland's ship (tenor)
The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner is a romantic opera. Wagner's earliest opera was based on the legend of the Dutch captain who defied Satan to prevent him rounding the Cape in a storm. He was condemned to sail the seas until Judgment Day, unless redeemed by a woman's love. He lands briefly every seven years. The Overture, the Dutchman's monologue in Act I, Senta's ballad in Act II, and the choruses of Act III are in their high points.
The Flying Dutchman Plot Summary / Synopsis
Overture: A tone-poem of a stormy sea, introducing the curse, the Dutchman himself, and of his redemption through love.
Act I
Scene: A Wild Bay. A Raging Storm.
Daland's ship has just put in seven miles from his home. He leaves his helmsman on watch who sings a ballad and falls asleep. The Dutchman's ship drops anchor alongside. He disembarks and tells in a powerful recitative and aria that he has completed another seven years of his sentence, which can end with a woman's love or until Judgement Day. Daland comes on deck. They have a long duet.
The Dutchman describes his wanderings, craves hospitality and offering some of his treasures. When he finds out that Daland has a daughter, he asks for her hand. Overcome by sentiment, Daland consents. By now the storm has subsided, Daland sails for home, with the Dutchman's following.
Act II
Scene: A Room in Daland's House.
Singing in chorus, girls are spinning under Mary's supervision, but Senta sits gazing at a portrait of the Flying Dutchman. She sings his ballad and is so carried away that she ends by declaring that she will be the woman who will save him, to the dismay of Erik, who loves her and has come to say that Daland has been sighted.
Senta tells Erik that the Dutchman's portrait has captured all her sympathy. In despair Erik warns Senta of a dream in which he had seen a dark stranger arrive in a ship with her father, and after being greeted by her, sail away with her. When Daland and the Dutchman arrive, Senta is enamored and transfixed at the Dutchman's sight. After introducing the Dutchman as a wealthy suitor, Daland leaves them alone. In a long duet, Senta pledges eternal love to the Dutchman. Daland learns of the happy tidings.
Act III
Scene: A Bay with Rocky Shore. Daland's House to the Side. Daland's Ship Brightly Lit Alongside the Dutchman's Ship, Dark and Silent.
Sailors and girls sing a loud and noisy chorus. Then a storm rages round the Dutchman's ship and his crew sing a mocking chorus of their captain's bad luck in love. Senta rushes out of the house, pursued by Erik vainly trying to restrain her.
The Dutchman, thinking she has abandoned him, orders his ship to set sail. Erik summons help but Senta proclaims she is faithful to the Dutchman. As his ship sails she breaks loose and, crying out from the summit of a rock that she is true unto death, leaps into the sea. The ship sinks but at the glow of the rising sun the Dutchman and his beloved Senta are seen clasped in an embrace while ascending to heaven.
Readers may want to check out Wagner's other operas The Ban on Love and Lohengrin.
Sources:
Gilder, Eric. Dictionary of Composers and their Music. Sphere Reference, 1987
Morley, (Sir) Alexander F.. The Harrap Opera Guide. London: Harrap, 1970
Riding, Alan and Leslie Dunton Downer. Opera. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2006
Wagner's Opera The Flying Dutchman by A.P. Ryder
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