Season 14, which did have to cut shorter than expected due to the pandemic, of the interesting but uneven 'Metropolitan Opera HD Live' was mostly pretty solid. The only disappointment being 'Wozzeck' of the previous productions of the season and 'Akhnaten' being the high point (closely followed by 'Porgy and Bess' and 'Aggrippina'). Saw 'Der Fliegende Hollander' as someone who loves Wagner's music, likes the opera and who was blown away by Francois Girard's Met 'Parsifal' a decade ago.
Unfortunately, 'Der Fliegende Hollander' (viewed and shown as a scratch taping with a prior performance being used as a camera rehearsal) was a disappointment. Of Season 14, it is by far the worst and the only one to not do much for me. It starts off so well, looks good and has one magnificent performance as well as some great singing elsewhere. Yet the stage direction left me completely cold and uninvolved and musically the production was very uneven. Between Girard's production of this and his production of 'Parsifal', there is no doubt that 'Parsifal' was infinitely superior. Even with slower tempos than one hears on most recordings (which actually were not a hindrance), that production was much more consistent musically, was a lot more ambitious dramatically and more interesting thematically, despite being the less ambitious opera 'Der Fliegende Hollander's' treatment here was nowhere near as attention grabbing.
There are good things. The opening scene is absolutely riveting visually and dramatically. It is a beautiful production visually, with a lot of dark mystical atmosphere and clever, colourful use of projections. Ones that were not overused or bogged down any momentum, while the ship is an imposing figure. Anja Kampe is magnificent as Senta, her acting is by far the best of the cast with there being actual firey intensity and poignancy that was not there with everybody else and her top notes are fearless. All while managing some lovely pianissimo and legato singing that one doesn't always hear in Wagnerian performances these days.
Most of the other singing is strong too, Sergey Skorokhodov as Erik coming off best with some beautiful ring and fluidity in his Kavatine. Franz Josef-Selig still sounds robust and resonant and sings well as Daland.
Evgeny Nitikin's performance in the title role is inconsistent, though credit is due for standing in for indisposed Bryn Terfel so soon before the performance. There is some lovely legato singing and he copes very well with the louder moments, but he is rather nasal high up and the softer moments sound too unfocused and underpowered. He has some forceful moments dramatically, but Dutchman is a complex character and a tortured soul and there is not enough of that with Nitikin who makes Dutchman slightly too villainous (like Klingsor). Dramatically, only Kampe impresses really. Everybody else is too stolid and Selig in particular is too subdued for Daland, the ambivalence of the character missing.
Girard's stage direction throughout is very static and stand there and sing like, with too much blocking, cliched slowed down postures for the chorus and not enough chemistry between the cast. Senta and Erik's chemistry is a non event. Too much of the drama is uneventful which made the production feel very pedestrian despite such a great start and also a tense climax. This pedestrian feel is made worse by the leaden conducting of Valery Gergiev, despite abhorring his politics (some of the worst for any conductor to have ever existed) my admiration for Gergiev's music making and how he has made Russian opera better known to a wider audience is extremely high. Here though he is out of his depth, in a reading that lacks excitement and nuance and comes over as too bombastic.
Like in a very unbalanced orchestrally performance of the overture (too brass heavy in an overture where the strings are very important yet here are swamped). Both the orchestra and chorus have some lovely moments, but tend to sound too under-rehearsed as a result of Gergiev's increasingly hectic concert scheduling especially at the ends of phrases. The chorus' acting has come on a long way over the years on the whole, but one would not think so with the so little they are given to work with.
In summary, some good things here but disappointing. 5/10.
Unfortunately, 'Der Fliegende Hollander' (viewed and shown as a scratch taping with a prior performance being used as a camera rehearsal) was a disappointment. Of Season 14, it is by far the worst and the only one to not do much for me. It starts off so well, looks good and has one magnificent performance as well as some great singing elsewhere. Yet the stage direction left me completely cold and uninvolved and musically the production was very uneven. Between Girard's production of this and his production of 'Parsifal', there is no doubt that 'Parsifal' was infinitely superior. Even with slower tempos than one hears on most recordings (which actually were not a hindrance), that production was much more consistent musically, was a lot more ambitious dramatically and more interesting thematically, despite being the less ambitious opera 'Der Fliegende Hollander's' treatment here was nowhere near as attention grabbing.
There are good things. The opening scene is absolutely riveting visually and dramatically. It is a beautiful production visually, with a lot of dark mystical atmosphere and clever, colourful use of projections. Ones that were not overused or bogged down any momentum, while the ship is an imposing figure. Anja Kampe is magnificent as Senta, her acting is by far the best of the cast with there being actual firey intensity and poignancy that was not there with everybody else and her top notes are fearless. All while managing some lovely pianissimo and legato singing that one doesn't always hear in Wagnerian performances these days.
Most of the other singing is strong too, Sergey Skorokhodov as Erik coming off best with some beautiful ring and fluidity in his Kavatine. Franz Josef-Selig still sounds robust and resonant and sings well as Daland.
Evgeny Nitikin's performance in the title role is inconsistent, though credit is due for standing in for indisposed Bryn Terfel so soon before the performance. There is some lovely legato singing and he copes very well with the louder moments, but he is rather nasal high up and the softer moments sound too unfocused and underpowered. He has some forceful moments dramatically, but Dutchman is a complex character and a tortured soul and there is not enough of that with Nitikin who makes Dutchman slightly too villainous (like Klingsor). Dramatically, only Kampe impresses really. Everybody else is too stolid and Selig in particular is too subdued for Daland, the ambivalence of the character missing.
Girard's stage direction throughout is very static and stand there and sing like, with too much blocking, cliched slowed down postures for the chorus and not enough chemistry between the cast. Senta and Erik's chemistry is a non event. Too much of the drama is uneventful which made the production feel very pedestrian despite such a great start and also a tense climax. This pedestrian feel is made worse by the leaden conducting of Valery Gergiev, despite abhorring his politics (some of the worst for any conductor to have ever existed) my admiration for Gergiev's music making and how he has made Russian opera better known to a wider audience is extremely high. Here though he is out of his depth, in a reading that lacks excitement and nuance and comes over as too bombastic.
Like in a very unbalanced orchestrally performance of the overture (too brass heavy in an overture where the strings are very important yet here are swamped). Both the orchestra and chorus have some lovely moments, but tend to sound too under-rehearsed as a result of Gergiev's increasingly hectic concert scheduling especially at the ends of phrases. The chorus' acting has come on a long way over the years on the whole, but one would not think so with the so little they are given to work with.
In summary, some good things here but disappointing. 5/10.
