The Flying Dutchman is a Romantic opera composed by Wagner in Dresden in 1843 based on a novel by Heinrich Heine (the libretto is written by the composer). The opera tells the story of the colourful legend of the Flying Dutchman ship. A Dutch captain swears to cross the Cape of Good Hope, even if he has to sail for eternity. The devil hears him and condemns him to sail the seas until the Last Judgment, unless a woman loves him faithfully until her death. He is allowed to go ashore every seven years to look for this woman.
Jan Philipp Gloger's interpretation transposes the plot of The Flying Dutchman into a stock market. The ship is replaced by the sombre decor of a packaging manufacturing factory and there are only a few decorative references to the original ship. In the pit, Christian Thielemann conducts the excellent Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, specially tailored for Wagner's music. The charismatic Samuel Youn plays the Dutchman, Ricarda Merbeth is Senta and Franz-Josef Selig has the role of the director of the company, Daland.
Photo: Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann), Franz-Josef Selig (Daland) and Samuel Youn (Der Holländer) © Bayreuther Festspiele / Enrico Nawrath.
