A couple of weeks ago, I decided to procure tickets to the Deutsche Oper Berlin. As it was a weekend and I had nothing better to do, I decided to check out a Richard Wagner opera. I have to say, I am not familiar with his music at all, since I studied the piano and he wasn't particularly known in the piano repertoire. I knew he composed plenty of operas, but until now, I haven't really seen a work of his. So I figured I change that, and got tickets to Der fliegende Holländer.
I was actually surprised to have liked it. I had this stereotype that Wagner's operas were rather inaccessible, at least to me. The snippets of his music that I have heard in the past were all very thick, at least, that's how I would describe it. In Melancholia, which happens to be one of my favourite movies, Wagner's music was liberally used. I had the impression that it was very complex and overall a swooning experience. But I must say, when I saw that on stage, it was a very favourable affair.
The overall storyline was rather blah: I didn't really care much about the theme of redemption through love. The story reinforced quite a few old-fashioned values, e.g. women remaining faithful waiting for their fiances while their fiances were sailing, very pronounced gender stereotypes, and many others. Yet the music was very fascinating. I especially liked the several duets that were featured in the opera: and mind you, these weren't traditional duets where two people sang one after another. Rather, you have two - sometimes three even - people singing all simultaneously on stage, using lines that they would more or less use as conversation to each other. And while it sounds like chaos, as if they were all singing different arias, it also fused into one harmonic whole. Musically, I definitely enjoyed it.
The production was also traditionally done. The opera premiered in 1843, and so the set didn't really deviate from that. It wasn't modernised as is sometimes the norm for Berlin-produced operas. This one was tastefully done, and I have to say, it was absolutely enjoyable.
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this piece. I normally gravitate towards more modern operas, yet sometimes I also feel the need to broaden my exposure with the classical and more traditional works for this art form. Too bad Wagner is an antisemite, but that's for another conversation.
