- The Bayreuth Dutchman on a revenge run
Small-town narrow-mindedness instead of vast seas: The current production of "The Flying Dutchman" at the Bayreuth Festival sends the Dutchman on a revenge mission between brick houses and winter gardens. At the premiere of the revival, the audience was pleased with the vocal ensemble, led by Michael Volle in the title role and Elisabeth Teige as Senta, and enthusiastically applauded conductor Oksana Lyniv.
She was the first female conductor ever on the Green Hill in Bayreuth in 2021 and continues to convince in the fourth year of the production. While rain and stormy wind outside replaced the high summer weather, the premiere audience in the festival house was very pleased after just over two and a half hours of opera.
Director Dmitri Tcherniakov sets the action in a small town. The Dutchman had to witness as a child how his mother had an affair with Daland, was shunned by the neighborhood, and took her own life. Years later, he seeks revenge, returning to the bourgeois society. Senta also feels far from comfortable there. In a hoodie and with a cigarette, she fights against conventions. The directorial ideas are coherent, and in the end, the city burns - and the Dutchman is dead.
The festival continues on Friday with the revival of "Götterdämmerung".
The directorial role in this production of "The Flying Dutchman" at Bayreuth Festival is handled by Dmitri Tcherniakov, who masterfully sets the action in a small town. Directing the operation, Tcherniakov skillfully portrays the Dutchman's revenge against the narrow-minded bourgeois society that shunned his mother.
