The Flying Dutchman

by Richard Wagner
Houston Grand Opera,
Houston Symphony;
Dietfried Bernet, conductor

Performers listed below.

Richard Wagner had a “thing” for salvation. You find it in almost all of his operas. Actually, it often seems like Wagner felt that he and his operas could actually deliver salvation to his audiences. After all, Wagner wasn’t bashful about preaching that what he saw as the undeniable truth of his own viewpoints - either in real life, or in his music.

But early on, in The Flying Dutchman, Wagner may actually have been inspired by some else helping to save him. Wagner completed The Flying Dutchman in 1841, when he was in his late twenties. A couple of years earlier, Wagner had left his job in the city of Riga, in secret - to avoid creditors. He and his first wife, Minna, sneaked across the border to East Prussia, boarded a ship to London, and eventually wound up in Paris.

Their marriage had been rocky. Wagner was never famous for his loyalty to anyone, especially his wives. And at one point, Minna had run off with a wealthy businessman. The two reconciled, but in Paris things were strained further by money trouble, and Wagner actually landed in debtors prison. Even so, they stayed together.

Now, of course, Wagner is remembered as a man who seldom seemed devoted to anyone but himself. And he had to idealize his scandalous life before using it as material for his work. But idealized or not, Minna's faith in Wagner during those hard times may have been the inspiration for the unflagging devotion of the character Senta in The Flying Dutchman. Most consider that score to be Wagner’s first, truly great opera, and it’s featured this week on NPR WORLD OF OPERA with Steve Curwood, in a production from Houston Grand Opera.

As always, for more information on the opera, join Lou Santacroce for NPR’s AT THE OPERA, half-an-hour before curtain time.

Performers:
Franz Grundheber, The Dutchman; Sue Patchell, Senta; Gabor Andrasy, Daland; Patrick Denniston, Erik; Raymond Very, Steersman; Judith Christin, Mary


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