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Cardiff’s Paul Carey Jones has added success in Opera Holland Park’s first Wagnerian offering to build on his reputation firmly established at Longborough Festival Opera.
Opera Holland Park’s choice of The Flying Dutchman for its first foray into the Wagnerian world (or cult) is both inspired and courageous. Inspired as it is Wagner’s most accessible opera (and short). Courageous as it demands vast amounts of drama, and much of that comes from the orchestra which has to be limited in size to Opera Holland Park requirements. The musicians’ impact is enhanced by the fact that at OHP the orchestra is placed in the centre of the performance space (the singers use an apron stage in front of the musicians as well as the large main performance area).
Eleanor Dennis and Neal Cooper
Director Julia Burbach’s take on the dark tale is of a woman committed to her fate even before the first note is played. We see her on set designer Naomi Dawson’s sharply inclined skeletal-like structure that at its tip is like the prow of a ship, at the other a modest domestic room, and in its middle is her bed. Possibly the centrally placed bed is metaphorically her ship where she has dreamed of the doomed sailor and his quest for redemption. There is also an opening down which she can climb into the Dutchman’s domain.
Eleanor Dennis
As the music fills the space, the audience actually sees several women who look and are dressed exactly like Senta, (nightdress and raincoat) moving around the audience space. Faceless ghostly sailors, presumably the Dutchman’s crew, also walk amongst us. So, this production contains interpretative elements that may remain opaque to all but the director and her close collaborators. Yet such enigmas are part of the allure of contemporary stagings—provided they complement rather than obscure the integrity of the original work.
The success of this production rested largely on the outstanding strength of the singing. Eleanor Dennis’s portrayal of Senta was beautifully expressive, with a voice that could transform from the lyricism to tingling power. Having established himself at Longborough Opera working with Anthony Negus, Paul Carey Jones gave a strong, dramatic performance as the Dutchman, capturing both his mystery but more importantly his isolation and desolation.
Robert Winslade Anderson as Senta’s father Daland is as grasping and patriarchal as one would expect from this story of greed and hubris as well as yearning and sacrifice. As the jilted suitor Erik, Neal Cooper injects passion into this mix as he desperately tries to rescue what almost seems Senta’s madness.
The performance from the large chorus was one of boundless energy and enthusiasm, while the City of London Sinfonia orchestra under Peter Selwyn provided the required maelstroms, but also softer, more romantic sections of the score.
Eleanor Dennis and Paul Carey Jones
For anyone new to Wagner, this production was a thrilling introduction—dramatic, musically rich, and above all, carried by a fine cast of singers. Opera Holland Park can feel both proud and possibly a little relieved to have succeeded in this ambitious first step into Wagner’s world.
With singers of this standing we may well see Opera Holland Park charting a course for more Wagner in the coming seasons.
For details of Opera Holland Park’s ongoing 2025 season visit: https://operahollandpark.com/
Images: Ali Wright and Pablo Strong
Main image: Paul Carey Jones as the Dutchman