Wagner: Der fliegende Hollander - Bayreuth Festival (2021) [Blu-ray]

Last summer’s Bayreuth Festival opened with a gripping new production of Der fliegende Holländer. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s Bayreuth directorial debut is a study in alienation, revenge and redemption. The staging was notable for two other milestones, as Oksana Lyniv became the first woman to conduct at Richard Wagner’s legendary Festspielhaus since its opening in 1876, and the sensational Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian made her house debut with a standout performance as the opera’s heroine, Senta. The exceptional cast also included John Lundgren (The Dutchman), Georg Zeppenfeld (Daland), Eric Cutler (Erik) and Marina Prudenskaya (Mary).

Tcherniakov understands the work in a contemporary way. He explores the psychology of interdependence in a closed community, projecting the drama of Wagner's romantic opera into a present of fractured relationships, urban violence and barren architecture. The renowned Russian director and set designer, "right up there with the front runners" (Opera News), moves the opera's action from its proper setting on the coast to the soullessness of a modern city. Here the Dutchman was born and as a child witnessed his mother take her own life. As the overture sounds, his recurring dream of trauma is silently played out on stage.

Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, formerly chief conductor of the Odessa Opera and the Graz Opera, imbues Wagner's score with her own unique urgency and dynamism. Her interpretation was praised by the New York Times for her "keen eye for detail and tempo," and her Holländer was "taut and animated," according to the Frankfurter Rundschau.

"Lyniv’s conducting is superb in terms of pacing and tonal weight and balance...Grigorian and Zeppenfeld sing as fluently and fearlessly as they act" — Gramophone Magazine