Music reviews

Wagner’s operas have, of course, an unusual relationship with Gabriel Knight – GK2 actually centres around a so-called “missing Wagner opera”. But even in content, some of Wagner’s plots have a fantastical connection to the GK series, in particular the Ring cycle (with its mish-mash of various religious elements combined with an idiosyncratic view of the Grail) and this opera, Die fliegende Holländer.

The Flying Dutchman of the opera is under a curse (and those who’ve seen the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl will be strangely reminded of a somewhat similar situation): he’s condemned to remain as a spectre, sailing the sea until Judgement Day with his equally cursed crew upon a ghostly vessel, unable to find rest or forgiveness... unless, unless... unless he can find a woman who will wed him and be true to him, thereby saving him.

The crew have already been sailing for centuries, when the ghost ship encounters the ship of a man called Daland. Tempted by the offer of gold, he’'s happy enough to swap his daughter Senta in return for treasure. Senta herself, dreamily passing the time in her father’s house, is captivated by the legend of the Dutchman, and swears to herself she will be faithful even unto death. But after a misunderstanding caused by the jealousy and worry of Erik (a former suitor of hers), the Dutchman is convinced she was not serious in her promise to him, and in despair he sets sail again upon his endless course of damnation. Senta, crying out her eternal love, throws herself into the sea to demonstrate her fidelity – and the ghostly ship vanishes as the vision of Senta and the Dutchman can be seen ascending into heaven; the curse is broken.

Like almost all of Wagner’s music, this is incredibly difficult to sing, because of the staggeringly huge orchestral forces through which the singers’ voices have to batter their way. In addition, the part of the Dutchman calls for a bass-baritone of great interpretative ability to portray the bitter longing and complex character; the Steuermann (the helmsman) is a tenor role of haunting power difficult to convey; Erik, the rejected suitor, has the thankless task of being a tenor who does not get the girl; and Senta, the heroine, is possibly the trickiest role to cast. This has got to be a hefty dramatic soprano voice of incredible mettle and power, yet with purity and sweetness as well.

Wagner devotées argue long and hard over which is the best recording of this powerful opera. Some swear by this conductor; some say no, no, not him; some consider Astrid Varnay the best interpretor of the role of Senta; some cannot abide the occasional raw sounds she made; and so on and so on. Of the recordings I have, the one with the wonderful Cheryl Studer as Senta, Plácido Domingo as Erik, Peter Seiffert as Der Steuermann, and Bernd Weikl as Der Holländer certainly impresses; I also rather like the recording with Leonie Rysanek and George London as Senta and the Dutchman respectively, but Karl Liebl who sings Erik is not, in my opinion, up to the role, and Richard Lewis, while an adequate Steuermann, is no more than that. However, the recording with the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the Dutchman is, I’m told, absolutely outstanding, with certainly the best Steuermann on record sung by the fantastic Fritz Wunderlich, and the brilliant interpretative powers of Fischer-Dieskau making his Dutchman quite riveting. If you intend to get a recording of this opera, my recommendation is... try to get hold of the Fischer-Dieskau recording, or if you prefer a modern recording, the Weikl/Studer one is certainly a worthy contender.