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In July 1839, Wagner, his then wife Minna and dog Robber were travelling by boat in the south-east of Norway when a violent storm forced them to take shelter. The episode lingered in the composer’s mind and was eventually to spur inspiration for his opera Der fliegende Holländer.
Now the opera has come home. Recorded at concert performances by the Orchestra and Chorus of Norwegian National Opera under its music director, Edward Gardner, it is being promoted as a star vehicle for Lise Davidsen, the outstanding Wagner soprano of her generation.
The role of Senta is not the obvious choice for her. Davidsen has not sung it on stage and says the two concerts in Oslo would be her “first and last” in the role, but this does not stop her roaring through the opera like a North Sea gale. Powerful, fearless, mostly singing with vocal beauty, she is a force to reckon with.
The singers are at the forefront of the recording’s balance. Gerald Finley makes a soft-grained Dutchman, impeccable in his musicianship and the clarity of his words, and always alive with meaning. Stanislas de Barbeyrac is a romantic-sounding Erik and Brindley Sherratt a firm, if less charismatic Daland than some. Anna Kissjudit is a sonorous Mary and Eirik Grøtvedt a fine Steersman.
These may have been concert performances, but they lack nothing in drama thanks to Gardner’s grip on pace and tension. Add in a lusty contribution from the choir and very decent orchestral playing and there is no reason to hold back.
★★★★☆
‘Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer’ is released by Decca
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