The Flying Dutchman

Romantic opera in three acts
Libretto: Richard Wagner after Heinrich Heine’s From the Memoirs of Herr von Schnabelewopski 
World premiere: 2.01.1843, Semperoper, Dresden
Polish premiere: 6.02.1902, Teatr Miejski, Lviv
Premiere of this production: 16.03.2012, Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

In the original German with Polish surtitles

The first epoch-making opera by Richard Wagner, evidence of the incredible artistic and at the same time reformist genius of the composer. The myth behind the opera stems from the seventeenth century and has inspired many artists of various professions. Wagner encountered it through an ironic retelling by Heinrich Heine, not entirely devoid of misogynist references.

For Mariusz Treliński The Flying Dutchman is a score full of multidimensional and often shimmering meanings. Known for his penchant for lavish stagings, the artist, along with the set and light designers, built a very dark and surprisingly minimalist show. It is dominated by the colour black, a sign of the vampiric Dutchman wandering the world and of his spiritual abyss, a sign definitely overwhelming the white -- a symbol of Senta, devoted to her eternal wanderer.

The show has a lasting effect, imprinting itself in one's memory. But how could it be otherwise? Throughout almost the entire show the stage is literally flooded with water, bringing on associations with the mare tenebrarum concept. The sea of darkness and the unconscious is crossed in deafening silence by a ghost ship, and the depths of that sea serve as a background for the conflict of the darkest demons of the male psyche.

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera
Dancers and mimes