The
Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner
Opera
Australia
State
Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, April 1, 4, 10, 12, 1997
Reviewed
by Kate Herbert on April 1 1997.
For
The Melbourne Times April 1997
(Palz Vaughan Editor)
Much of Wagner is notoriously long and
difficult to sing but The Flying Dutchman is an exception with its odd
eminently singable tunes akin to a cheeky Mozart. (Oh! Sacrilege!)
A pale, Nordic girl awaits the return
of her sea-captain father and the materialisation of her fantasy-man, the mythical
Dutchman. He is doomed to sail the seas eternally but every seven years,
according to prophesy, he is allowed ashore to seek a faithful wife willing to
die for his salvation.
The stuff of melodrama? Director Barrie
Kosky has integrated all the best Sarah Bernhardt devices to accompany imposing
horns and percussion during the tempest and the later romantic strings.
Kosky's Dutchman runs successfully sans
interval and emphasises the menace of both ocean and myth and accentuates the
sexual obsession of both Madchen and Dutchman. Both seek salvation from the
frustration of a life and immediately recognise each other. She goes willingly
to her destiny and he, nobly, tries to divert.
Michael Anderson's design indulges
Kosky's loathing for naturalism by disintegrating and transforming an
Ibsenesque living room. The seaport is an industrial set design and the stage
is a picture-frame echoing the Dutchman's portrait adored by Senta.
John Wegner's velvet baritone and
magnetic presence as the Dutchman are riveting and his monologue "Der
Frist ist um" (Time is up) is moving. The superbly-voiced Elizabeth
Whitehouse plays pallid virgin Senta passionately and bass, Donald Shanks, as
her father Daland, is an enriching presence.
The State Orchestra of Victoria is
tight, dynamic and perfectly in-tune, conducted by visitor, Gabor Otvos, with exceptional
subtlety and control and obvious years of experience.
KATE HERBERT
270 wds
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