Der Fliegende Hollander, November 28th, 2000

I had high hopes for this performance and was disappointed. The production is very good for the first Act where the appearance of the Dutchman's ship is very well handled but to ask the singer to sing the brilliant monologue "Der frist is um" standing on a hanging staircase, high above the ground is ridiculous ! At adds nothing to the drama, in fact it spoils it, because I can bet Morris or any other singer would be tense to be singing in such conditions. The second Act is horrible, the scene is just ugly and to have the seamstress using sewing machines and lots of fabric around does not make for drama ! The third Act is very good on the other hand, the appearance of the Dutchman crew is very well handled.

And then I thought well the singing will come to rescue, was I wrong !

Morris had a very weak first act, his monologue was sung without any dynamics and the voice lacked power, projection and intensity of tone. It seems to me he does not identify with the role, because I've seen him before in other roles (Fillipe, the villains in Contes d'Hoffmann) and I know he is a good actor and sensitive singer but he simply sang the role without any commitment. He was only good in the beginning of the duet in Act 2 where he used pianissimos and showed some interest in the part. But again, I think he lacks the proper tone and power in his voice to make a good Dutchman.

Nina Stemme was replacing Sharon Sweet (she is out due to illness rumour says). She has sung Senta before and sings the role well technically but emotionally she displayed nothing. The ballad in Act 2 had no introspection (she did not differantiate between the different "Oh ho, Oh hos" where she could have alternated between piano and forte) and elsewhere it was the same. I also think she lacks the necessary power in her voice for the role, in Act 3 any Senta has to really let the voice fly to the wings and I heard none of that (I saw a very good Senta, Sabine Hass, that has sadly passed away recently and she had all the qualities Stemme is lacking).

Roland Wagenf�hrer is debuting at the MET in this role. He is a good Erik and was able to sang the role well which in itself is a feat already! I'd like to hear him in a major role, an interesting singer let's see.

Jan-Hendrik Rootering was a routine Daland. He sang well and knows the role but Gergiev made him sweat in the first Act with his fast speed !

Matthew Polenzani was a good steuermann.

Valery Gergiev was a major disappointment to me. He started the prelude in a fury, going very fast and had trouble keeping the orchestra at an acceptable level for the singers and sometimes drowned them. His must be one of the fastest Dutchman's conducting so far ! I saw none of the poetry and lyricism required for the piece. The orchestra was good and the male chorus superb, the female chorus though had a lot of problems with tone consistency in the Ballad (second act), specially in the high notes where you could hear twenty different high notes spreading at the top.