Der Fliegende Holländer

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OPERA IRELAND (2001)

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER by Richard Wagner
Conductor: Laurent Wagner
Cast: J. von Duisberg, C. Primrose, T. Mussard, S. Schwets, A. Wilkens
Production: P. Werner (scenery/clothes), P. Keogan (lighting)

“…the Dutchman returned to port under full sail and with flying colors, a display of artistry and passion long to be remembered. The minimalist set was entirely effective, the director, Nicholas Muni deserves much credit.”
–Michael O’Connell, Sunday Business Post

“…a thrilling evening, musically and dramatically, putting opera back on the Dublin map with a resounding splash. Nicholas Muni’s unfussy but telling production created figures with considerable reality and Peter Werner’s simple but superb setting, with Paul Keogan’s dramatic lighting, was minimalist in the best sense.”
– Michael Dervin, Classical Fox

“Nicholas Muni’s modern, economical production taps into Wagner’s ideas and helps a 21st century audience to try and respond as perhaps Wagner’s own first audiences might have done.”
–Michael Dungan, The Irish Examiner

“Das tut sie natürlich auch beim ‘Holländer’, zumal Nicholas Muni die Handlung ohne Bedeutungshuberei, aber mit vielen schlüssigen Details in der Personenregie ablaufen lässt.”
– Stefan Mösch, Opernwelt

Production Description
The production uses a unit scenic environment, which suggests a ship’s hull, and plays without intermission. The various locations are established through the architecture and mood of the lighting, which produces an expressionistic style. The main feature is the division of the space into two environments: the forestage, a very clean, simple and ordered space and a very large room upstage that is revealed by the opening of a huge wall. This upstage room is an expressionistic, chaotic looking space, dominated by an enormous photograph of the Dutchman, which is distorted, wrinkled and which forms an unbroken landscape.