The Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, here is the third review of this second special #TheatreWeek, with the review of a special opéra (because it's the only one that I've seen in German), called The Flying Dutchman, by Richard Wagner. So, without any further ado, let's get started, shall we ?

The Flying Dutchman : a love created in eternity

The first point that I will talk about is the story itself and  the story of the Flying Dutchman : in the original tale, a captain is suddenly facing a raging storm, and doesn't listen to his crew, and even defies the gods and bets that they can't drown his ship. He is then condemned to go forever on the sea and haunt with his crew the others navigators as they go around and aren't able to rest anymore as they can't go on land. In this opéra, which is an adaptation to the classic tale, the Dutchman is allowed to go on land every seven years, and can be saved by the love of a woman that would never betray him ever, or that would lead her to perdition as well.

The second point that I will talk about is the love story between the Dutchman and Senta, the woman supposed to be the one to save his life from his torment. However, as Erik, a hunter, is also in love with Senta and had gotten the promise from her father, Daland, there are a couple of difficulties and in the end, the Dutchman believes that Senta has cheated on him and tired to leave, leading Senta to commit suicide, thus freeing the Dutchman and uniting them in eternity after death. Also, the fact that Daland wanted to sel his daughter for the Dutchman's wealth and treasures accumulated for years and years just show that the poverty of this man led him to crave any resource of wealth or, maybe, has made him greedy and a money-lover.

The third point that I will talk about is how the Dutchman is perceived by people around : for Mary, Senta's nurse, he is just a tale, that Senta has romanticised for her own imagination, and that she will never meet because for the nurse, he doesn't exist. However, dedication, devotion and dedication to the Dutchman's cause will be what saves him when she commits suicide, when they finally confess  their undying love for each other. For Daland, he's just a money provider and someone who wants to marry his daughter, and is ready to sell her when he had made plans with Erik. Last but not least, for work himself, he's just a concurrent for Sents's hand and love, and when he loses the batten he goes to see the Dutchman to tell him his anger, but Senta reminds him that the Dutchman is the man that she loves and that he now has to go away, and that's what he does.

Overall impression : A great tragedy about love and redemption, when the Dutchman was a criminal condemned forever, and had the extreme luck of having a woman like Senta (seriously, I do 't even think that there are THAT many women ready to do the same thing for him) to save him from his curse. I would recommend it for mature audiences though.

Okay, that's it for today ! I hope that you liked it and I will see you very soon with another one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !