www.amazon.com, 08. June 2011
5 out of 5 stars
Modern and Faithful
As a Wagner fanatic, I have always loved The Flying Dutchman. The music-drama's timeless themes of human kinds search for unrequinted love and redemption in an imperfect world ( themes that later reached their fulfillment in Tristan Und Isolde) have always had special meaning for me. These themes, of course, are most perfectly expressed in the works' music. Wagner got the inspiration for the music during a stormy voyage to London in his early 20's. Now listen to the overture and it makes perfect sense.
As for my review of this production, I absolutely love it. I watched it the other night with complete delight. Catherine Naglestad and Juha Uusitalo are wonderful as Senta and the Dutchman. My most pleasant suprise, however, was Robert Lloyd as Daland. Yes Robert Lloyd! It was awesome to see that after all these years he is still going strong. I have the Lohengrin dvd where he performed along with Placido Domingo and that was well over 20 years ago. One of the key moments in the Flying Dutchman is Dalands' aria in act two where he introduces the Dutchman to his daughter Senta. Robert lloyd pulls it off perfectly and I was cheering! The madiens chorus in act two is awesome and you will love the apparel. Check out Mary!
This is a "modern" production and I understand some may not like it. For me, however, what is most important is the sincerity of the production, how the music is performed, and the singers. All these aspects are great. The Blu Ray makes it even better. Enjoy.
Dennis A. Brown