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Flying Dutchman
By Michael Van Duzer
When the pre-Lion King Julie Taymor presented her production of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman at Los Angeles Opera, I was underwhelmed. Admittedly, there were arresting visuals, but the opera seemed lost in a quagmire of ideas that fell just short of effective. Conceits like dancers doing belly flops on a giant Slip & Slide or the Arte Johnson-like Wandering Jew chasing his elusive park bench were more inclined to produce giggles than the shivers Wagner envisioned for his ghost story. The production that opened here this season uses elements of the Taymor staging, but the direction has been handed over to Vera Calabria. Gone are the dancers and the Wandering Jew, but the admirably oversized skeleton ship from set designer George Tsypin remains to dominate the proceedings.
The production’s Dutchman was sung by the usually superlative Bernd Weikel with gorgeous tone and utter clarity, but little passion. Mlada Khoudoley’s Senta seemed to have found a dramatic focus, but her sound was consistently dry and tight. Matti Salminen blustered convincingly as Daland, and Donald Kaasch revealed an Eric with the heroic sound of a Siegfried. Reprising their roles from the original production were Greg Fedderly as the Steersman and Suzanna Guzman as Mary, proving that even small roles can make an impact. The female chorus sang their spinning wheel scene with an appealing light touch, while the men threw themselves into their sailor chanteys with real gusto. But someone should have toned down their stereotypical drunken antics in the second act. At the podium, Klaus Weise kept the tempos moving but brought little finesse to the evening.
Regardless of the perceived success or failure of the original Dutchman production, Taymor is an original artist with a very specific vision. Director Calabria was in the unenviable position of following Taymor, using her sets and certain staging concepts but also making the production her own. No doubt this accounted for the somewhat tentative nature of her staging choices and the production in general.
The Flying Dutchman Dorothy Chandler Pavilion March 22-April 12, 2003
www.losangelesopera.com
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