Irish National Opera (INO) returns to An Bord Gais Energy Theatre for four performances of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman on March 23, 25, 27 and 29. As it has been a while since any of the composer’s operas have been seen here these performances by INO are welcome.
The Flying Dutchman is the earliest of what one might call Wagner’s mature operas and it was first produced at the Hoftheater in Dresden on January 2 1843.Wagner conducted the premiere and the piece was relatively well received. He was delighted with the soprano Wilhelmina Schröder-Devrient whose singing he called ‘magnificent.’ but was less enamoured with the baritone Michael Wächter in the title role.
Wagner was somewhat harsh in his comments when referring to Wächter’s ‘distressing corpulence, his broad fat face, the extraordinary movements of his arms and legs, which he managed to make look like mere stumps, that drove my passionate Senta to despair’. Neither was Madame Schröder-Devrient (Senta) all that pleased with Herr Wächter. The Flying Dutchman had only four performances in Dresden and was not revived there until 1865.
However, it was taken up by several other German theatres and was soon produced in a number of opera houses across Europe. The Flying Dutchman arrived in London in 1870 when it was the first of Wagner’s stage works to be produced in Britain. It was sung in Italian, as was the case with its American premiere in Philadelphia in 1876.
Wagner was keen to have the opera performed without intervals but Dresden was adamantly against the idea and The Flying Dutchman had to wait until 1901 to be given as the composer intended in a production by his widow Cosima in Bayreuth. However, in that form it runs for a continuous two and a half hours and most houses are happy to leave it in three acts of manageable length with intermissions.
The INO cast is being led by Hawaiian-born baritone Jordan Shanahan (must be Irish blood somewhere along the line) who has been carving a niche for himself with his charismatic interpretations of dramatic roles. He made his professional debut at the Natchez Opera Festival in the USA in 2002.
His repertoire is wide-ranging moving with ease from the bel canto through the romantic to the contemporary. Wagner roles list high among his achievements. Jordan Shanahan now lives in Switzerland.
Northern Ireland soprano Giselle Allen, who has garnered a reputation for her dramatic presence and who has established a versatile career with leading opera houses and orchestras, returns to INO to undertake the role of Senta.
Her career highlights to date include the title role in Elektra for INO, Marie in Wozzeck for Canadian Opera, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in a number of European productions.
Gisela Allen works regularly with several conducting luminaries not least Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop and Gianandrea Noseda.
