Review-The Flying Dutchman-Opera Hong Kong
11-10-13
By Gladys Li
Before watching this well acknowledged classic, I checked out the plot and was expecting something similar to The Pirates of the Caribbean - a ghost ship damned to roam the high seas til its captain finds a woman who can truly love him.
This production is itself a roaming as well as fantastical creation: Deutsche Oper’s concept (sets, lighting design, costumes etc) and principal singers (two for each of the main 5 roles, so there’s strength in depth) have been flown to Hong Kong and ‘plugged in’ to Opera Hong Kong’s chorus with the Hong Kong Philharmonic as orchestra. The logistical constraints for stitching together this kind of co-production must be significant but there were no signs of stress at the seams last night.
Starting with the overture played by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, conducted by Henrik Schaefer, I began to expect something special from the show. At least, I knew the music would be good. The opening was visually spectacular as well, from the 3D style safety curtain depiction of a sailboat foundering in gigantic waves, lifting to show Daland’s boat rocking from side-to-storm-driven side, propelled by the sou’westered male chorus. When the Flying Dutchman appeared, its ghostly red sails illuminated from within, the two sailboats moved back and forth as if really sailing through a big storm.
And it got even better in Act 2. I especially liked Senta (Manuela Uhl last night). Her singing was angelic and her acting fully appropriate, as if she was really struggling to conform the longings of her imaginations to the reality of those around her. Other elements, whilst traditionally staged, had contemporary resonance. For example, the white robed vestal maidens at the weaving factory mock Senta’s fantasizing while her father Daland focuses on the wealth his future son-in-law could provide; like them, we distrust the lovers’ pursuit of an idealized ‘true love’ – and yet there’s something heroically moving about the way this idealized love plays out in practice – a reminder of the solemn vows of never-dying love made by couples on their wedding day…
There’s modern resonance also in the way this production of The Flying Dutchman uses technology to really great stage effect. The closing Act reworks the nautical setting and is especially effective in the finale when the ghost ship pulls up alongside Daland’s docked vessel to bear the lovers away.
That said, the most memorable scene was one of pure theatre - in Act 2, when Senta and the Dutchman stand transfixed at first meeting, as Daland tries his best to bring them together, then realizes this will only happen once he is gone – and, as the Dutchman at long last steps forward, his massive shadow blots out the silhouetted weaving factory upstage. This magic moment was all the more powerful for not relying on digital pyrotechnics.
Generally it was a really good show and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s the first time I’ve seen the opera staged and the relative lightness of touch – melodically, thematically and in narrative development, alongside the iconic leitmotifs - make this production a great introduction to Wagner compared to some of his other longer masterworks. Still, at over two and a half hours (with just one twenty minute interval) you get plenty of quantity as well as quality for your money.
The Flying Dutchman is playing at the Cultural Center in TST through Sunday. For more information, click here.
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