Bernhard Richter as the Pilot. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

For the audience who has seen works by Willy Decker before, the Flying Dutchman at Opera Bastille was as all the other operas Willy Decker has staged, together with  Wolfgang Gussmann, who is responsible for decoration and costumes. White walls, nothing happening, no surprises. You can relaxe your eyes and listen to the beautiful music and good singing. Tiresome. Why the performance was being good is, that spite in that nothing happends on stage. Decker is through his good singers, performing a history, that you can allmost understand. But then the next problem comes, that a lot of the time you cant see the faces of the singers, because Hans Tolstede´s light is to week, so they dont need to make any mimic, to tell details, only during the duet between Zenta and Erik it was possible to see faces clear.

Another thing is that I dont feel any of localcoloristic details in the staging or the opera. In this case it could have been located to the wild Norwegian southcoast by Borøya, outside Tvedestrand, where actually Wagner got the inspiration.

James Morris, der Holländer and Matti Salminen, Daland. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

But the only feeling we had to the Sea was the picture as a framed painting in the left side of the room, and this only changed between a beautiful Sea picture, and the same picture with a large sailing boat in, but not a mysteriouse sailing boat as the one that The Dutchman could have been arriving in, and which is marked by the big red sail when he actually arrives on stage for the first time.

Furtherone Willy Decker is loosing the wonderrful posibility that he had to make the opening act dramatically with first the one ship arriving, and then the Dutchsmanns ship, and giving the Pilot and the seamans posibility to appear at their right domaine, as he made every thing inseid the same booring room, only by opening the door, to bring in the shipsrope, and later on as a embankment quay. This is telling about a lack of fantasy.

At left Marie-Ange Todorovitch, Mary and the female Choire. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

What i liked was the solution they have made for the Spinning choire, where the 30 wimen her was assembled in a rektangular formation reparing a sail. This worked well, and that was the only place that I had a feeling of locacolorite, as they looked like a religiouse meeting in a religiouse sect, both in their grey brown dressing with the large white aprons. Where the mens were away doing some mens talk, and the women were assembled to do wimens work, and singing and telling histories to each other, as it could happen on the Norwegain Southcoast 150 years ago. Unfortunately, I would be surprised if that has been in Willy Deckers mind.

Matti Salminen is a first class safe card as Daland, and is still singing wonderfully. As I remember him first time in The Last Temptations in Oslo. Zenta beautifully performed and sung by Adrianne Piaczonka. It was good news to hear Klaus Florian Vogt as Erik, a beautiful voice, with a lot of possibilities for the future. I am happy to read, that we will get the possibility to hear him again at later occassions. Marie-Ange Todorovitch was a good figur as Mary.

James Morris, der Holländer. Adrianne Pieczonka, Senta and Marie-Ange Todorovitch, Mary. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

Bernhard Richter

was a first class pilot, with a very beautiful clear tenor voice, who was coming very good out to the audience, and we could enjoy every single small detail of his solos. I should like to hear Bernhard Richter as Erik, that will be wonderful

. He has the capacity and the voice for it. In addition was he looking good. Bernhard Richter was the big pleasant surprise this evening as the Pilot. I do hope the management will take good care of this tenor, so we will hear him often again. To my pleasure, I was happy to read that he is singing a lot other main roles than Wagner.

In the titelrole they have chosen James Morris, the baryton which we have enjoyed a lot as for example Wotan. He was singing the role perfect, and his duets with Zenta was first class, but to be honest, and that is my job. I would have prefered to have a younger sounding voice to the role as the Dutchman, this was to old fashion a voice for this demanding role. I do know that many other grown barytones, as for example the wondeful Norwegian baryton Terje Stensvold is as old as James Morris, and are still having success as the Dutchman, but he has a younger attitude. Now it looked like Zenta should fall in love with his grandfather. It didn´t work. I didn´t trust in it. And I do understand that she wanted to kill her self and stay at home. Even she said that she would stay true to the Dutchmann, I heard that as an excuse for staying at home  by Erik. This detail was a wise choise of Willy Decker.

Klaus Florian Vogt, Erik. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

Peter Schneider was responsible for the conducting. He knows his work. And the orchestra sounded great. During the way it was a bit to slow, and some times, for my ears, he is waiting to long time thinking between the parts where this is right to have breaks. Some time I wondered has he parked, but it continued after a little while.

The choire work, where tho work is leaded by the splendid choire master Patrick Marie Aubery was, as allwasy good. Paris operahouse is the only operahouse, that I know where the leader of the choire, is getting so much extraordinary attention. I thought that he was doing his good job, as very many others in the house. Many others are not getting this attention, that they would have deserved. Its too much.

I do notice that the story as they choosed to play it without a break, 2, 1/2 long worked well. But the audience, where some of them perhaps are out for the only one time in the year, this a big event to go to the opera, they are dressing up elegantly (well, some of them), but no one see them, it is a social event to go to the opera, and specially when it is a big performance as by Wagner, Verdi, Gounod, Tsjaikovskij or others. Therefore please, give the audience the festivitas feeling by going to the opera, and enjoying them self. Some one could too need to go to the toalet during the long event. Still artistically it was good, but for the musicians and the audience, we all need a break.  To clear our minds.

In front of the choire, Klaus Florian Vogt, Erik, in door, James Morris der Holländer, inside door, Matti Salminen, Daland and, in front Adrianne Pieczonka, Senta. Foto. Frédérique Toulet.jpg

Too many in the audience forgot to turn of their mobiltelephones, so when it was quiet when the conductor was thinking, we got different more or less funny melodies coming from each little corner at least ten times. That is not poligt to the otherr in the audience, who has payed a high price for their tickets. Others had got a cold and couldn´t stop their cough!