Der Fliegende Holländer

Wagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2016 by Àlex Ollé at the Teatro Real de Madrid. Stars Kwangchul Youn (Daland), Ingela Brimberg (Senta), Nikolai Schukoff (Erik), Kai Rüütel (Mary), Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann), and Samuel Youn (Der Holländer). Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real de Madrid (Chorus Master Andrés Máspero). Sets by Alfons Flores; costumes by Josep Abril; lighting by Urs Schönebaum; videos by Franc Aleu. Directed for TV by Stéphane Vérité; produced by Jean-Romain Sales. Sung in German. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts sound. Grade: NA

David J. Baker, writing in the Opera News for June, 2018 (pages 60-61) gives this his "Critic's Choice" award in the video category. He praises all the singers. And he especially applauds conductor Heras-Casado for approaching the music as a story-teller in a production that is "fanciful but psychologically grounded" as well the chorus and orchestra that "perform like practiced Wagnerians."

Here is an official clip from the Teatro Real (in Spanish):

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.