Der fliegende Holländer (DVD): Vaclav Kaslik, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Donald McIntyre, Catarina Ligendza, Bengt Rundgren, Hermann Winkler, Harald Ek, Ruth Hesse
Film
director: Vaclav Kaslik
Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch
Holländer: Donald McIntyre
Senta: Catarina Ligendza
Daland: Bengt Rundgren
Erik: Hermann Winkler
Steuermann: Harald
Ek
Mary: Ruth Hesse
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Filmed version, Region 0
Filmed at Bavaria Studios, Munich, 14 October – 10 November 1974
Sound recording: Bürgerbräukeller, Munich, 2–5 May 1974
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For the contemporary viewer this filmed version of Der fliegende Holländer has little to offer more than the historical interest of seeing singers like Catarina Ligendza and Donald McIntyre anno 1974. The production is very dated. What may have been exciting for the cinema audience in the mid-seventies looks naïve today. It is greatly inferior to Kupfer's production in Bayreuth, also available on DVD.
But if one of my kids came and asked me which version of Der fliegende Holländer they should see as an introduction to the opera, I would recommend this. The film follows Wagner’s stage directions faithfully and is thus a great way to get acquainted with the opera.
Its attempt to create a naturalistic atmosphere is of course doomed to fail: poor lip synchronisation, extreme mismatch between the passion in the voices and the motionless faces, and the stench of studio production and studio lighting. And when the singers try to show strong emotions, the result is only embarrassing, probably because we are used to another level of acting on film.
Disappointing is Donald McIntyre as the Dutchman. Both in his singing and “acting” he fails to convince. His voice is cold and static and he looks terribly uncomfortable with trying to sing-along to his own voice. It is hard to believe that this is the same singer who a few years later sang such a convincing and moving Wotan in the Chéreau/Boulez Ring in Bayreuth.
Catarina Ligendza’s voice is brilliant, but she also struggles with the filming concept, often showing minimal facial expressions when she at the same time sings passionately. She is a legend, and it was interesting for me to see her sing (actually for the first time).
I suspect the director, Vaclav Kaslik, is to blame for the poor acting. His way with the singers reveals clumsy directing. But then the whole concept of trying to make a realistic representation of an art form so theatrical and foreign to the realism associated with film is almost impossible to make successful.
The highlight for me, surprisingly enough, was conductor
Wolfgang Sawallisch.
His tempi in this film are generally brisk, with wonderful focus on
details.
Other reviews
"There is plenty to enjoy here, not least the best characterization
of Daland that I have ever seen. Bengt Rundgren is vocally perfect and
a far more differentiated character than usual. He is sympathetic and human,
rather than a stock figure, a natural, genuine seaman."
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Der fliegende Holländer on DVD
Der fliegende Holländer on
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Wagner on DVD
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