Der Fliegende Holländer Was To Be March 14, 2020, Met Opera Saturday Broadcast

Summary: Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer was to be the March 14, 2020, Met Opera Saturday broadcast, airing as 15th in the season’s 23 radio matinees.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s premiere gala for French Canadian director François Girard’s new production of Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer took place, Monday, March 2, 2020: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 28, 2019

Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer was to be the March 14, 2020, Met Opera Saturday broadcast, airing at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and numbering as the 15th of 23 scheduled Saturday radio matinees during the 2019-2020 Met Opera season.

German composer and librettist Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) set his musical score for Der Fliegende Holländer to his own German libretto. His libretto’s literary source was The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski (Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski), published by 19th-century German writer Heinrich Heine (Dec. 13, 1797-Feb. 17, 1856) in 1834. Heine’s novel ironically retold the legend of a ghost sea captain who can only be released from a curse of eternal roaming by the love of a faithful woman.

Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer premiered Jan. 2, 1843, at Königliches Hoftheater (Royal Court Theatre) in Dresden, Saxony, in modern-day east central Germany. Der Fliegende Holländer premiered in the first of the site’s three opera houses, all known as Semperoper in honor of original architect Gottfried Semper (Nov. 29, 1803-May 15, 1879).

Der Fliegende Holländer received its Metropolitan Opera premiere on Nov. 27, 1889. In the 1889-1890 season, the opera received seven performances.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season debuts a new production of Der Fliegende Holländer. The Metropolitan Opera website’s page on the opera’s 2019-2020 performances honors François Girard as setting “the recent Met standard for Wagner stagings” with his “visionary” new staging of Parsifal in the 2012-2013 Met Opera season.

The French Canadian director’s production team comprises John Macfarlane, set designer; Moritz Junge, costume designer; David Finn, lighting designer; Peter Flaherty, projection designer; and Carolyn Choa, choreographer. The production’s dramaturg is Serge Lamothe.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season offers eight performances of Der Fliegende Holländer. The production’s premiere gala took place Monday, March 2, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The performance Friday, March 6, also operates on Eastern Standard Time, with a start time of 8 p.m.

The month’s remaining six performances are set at Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). March’s EDT performances take place Tuesday, March 10, at 8 p.m.; Saturday matinee broadcast, March 14, at 1 p.m.; Wednesday, March 18, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 21, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m.; and closing night, Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m.

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced via Facebook Thursday, March 12, 2020, the cancellation of the rest of the 2019-2020 season due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database) entry of March 12, 2020, noted the cancellation of 58 performances. Operas affected by the cancellation were identified as La Bohème, La Cenerentola, Così Fan Tutte, Der Fliegende Holländer, Kát'a Kabanová, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Maria Stuarda, Simon Boccanegra, Tosca, La Traviata, Turandot and Werther.

Update: The opera company's coronavirus-occasioned closure affected five of the eight performances of Der Fliegende Holländer scheduled for the 2019-2020 season. The last five performances (Saturday matinee broadcast, March 14; Wednesday, March 18; Saturday, March 21; Tuesday, March 24; closing night, Friday, March 27) were cancelled.

The three-act opera has an estimated run time of 2 hours 19 minutes. The three acts are performed as a totality, with no intermissions.

Valery Gergiev had been scheduled to conduct the first six performances (Monday, March 2; Friday, March 6; Tuesday, March 10; Saturday matinee broadcast, March 14; Wednesday, March 18; and Saturday, March 21). He only conducted the first three because of the coronavirus-occasioned cancellation of the other three. The Soviet and Russian conductor made his Metropolitan Opera debut March 21, 1994, in the opera house’s 268th performance of Otello by 19th century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Patrick Furrer had been scheduled to conduct the last two performances (Tuesday, March 24; Friday, March 27). The Swiss conductor’s appearances on the podium in late March would have marked his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Anja Kampe had been scheduled to appear in all performances as Senta, who sacrifices her life to release the Dutchman from his curse. The German-Italian operatic soprano’s appearance in the opera’s premiere gala March 2 marked her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Mihoko Fujimura had been scheduled to appear in all performances as Mary, Senta’s nurse. The Japanese mezzo-soprano’s appearance in the opera’s premiere gala March 2 marked her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Sergei Skorokhodov had been scheduled to appear in all performances as Erik, a huntsman who was Senta’s boyfriend. The Russian tenor made his Metropolitan Opera debut March 5, 2010, in ensemble roles in the opera house’s premiere of The Nose by 20th century Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Sept. 25, 1906-Aug. 9, 1975).

David Portillo had been scheduled to appear as Steuermann (the steersman), who falls asleep at the helm, in seven performances (Monday, March 2; Friday, March 6; Tuesday, March 10; Saturday matinee broadcast, March 14; Wednesday, March 18; and Saturday, March 21; Friday, March 27). He only appeared in the first performances because of the coronavirus-occasioned cancellation of the other four performances. The American tenor made his Metropolitan Opera debut Dec. 16, 2015, as Count Almaviva in the opera house’s 614th performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by 19th-century Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868). In the 2019-2020 Met Opera season, David Portillo also appears as Tamino in The Magic Flute by 18th century Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Alok Kumar had been scheduled to appear as Steuermann for the Tuesday, March 24, performance. The India-born American operatic tenor made his Metropolitan Opera debut Oct. 4, 2018, as Harry in the opera house’s 105th performance of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West. During the 2019-2020 Met Opera season, Alok Kumar also appears as a Singer in Der Rosenkavalier by German composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Sir Bryn Terfel had been scheduled to appear in all performances as Holländer, the cursed Dutchman. The Welsh bass-baritone made his Metropolitan Opera debut Oct. 19, 1994, in the title role of Figaro in the opera house’s 347th performance of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Franz-Josef Selig had been scheduled to appear in all performances as Captain Daland, Senta’s father. The German bass opera singer debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 as Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

The takeaway for Der Fliegende Holländer as the March 14, 2020, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that Richard Wagner’s opera about a curse-released sea captain would have aired as the 15th of 23 Saturday matinees broadcast weekly through Saturday, May 9, 2020.

Hong Kong-born British choreographer Carolyn Choa (right) represents spinning by the Spinning Chorus in Der Fliegende Holländer’s Act II with thick ropes: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 28, 2019

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s premiere gala for French Canadian director François Girard’s new production of Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer took place, Monday, March 2, 2020: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 28, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10162385517955533

Hong Kong-born British choreographer Carolyn Choa (right) represents spinning by the Spinning Chorus in Der Fliegende Holländer’s Act II with thick ropes: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 28, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162385514600533/

For further information:

“Debuts: Laura Aikin, Franz-Josef Selig . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 331228 Die Zauberflöte {326} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/14/1998.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=331228

“Debuts: Alok Kumar, Adrian Timpaul.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357009 La Fanciulla del West {105} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/04/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357009

“Debuts: David Portillo, Valeriano Lanchas.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356192 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {614} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/16/2015.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356192

“Debuts: Paulo Szot, William Kentridge . . . Sergei Skorokhodov . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353395 The Nose {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/05/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353395

“Debuts: Bryn Terfel, József Gregor.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID318220 Le Nozze di Figaro {347} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/19/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=318220

“Debuts: James Gaffigan, Nicole Car, Etienne Dupuis.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356999 La Bohème {1321} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356999

helcatj. "The Metropolitan Opera Company 2019-2020 Season." Showcase Opera and Events blog. Aug. 13, 2019.
Available @ https://showcaseoperaandeventsblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/the-metropolitan-opera-company-2019-2020-season/

Marriner, Derdriu. “Der Fliegende Holländer Is the April 29, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, April 24, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/04/der-fliegende-hollander-is-april-29.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In light of the circumstances involving the coronavirus and in consultation with the Office of the Mayor of New York City, we regret to inform our audience that all Met performances have been canceled through March 31, including tonight’s planned performance of La Cenerentola. This Saturday’s Live in HD cinema presentation of Der Fliegende Holländer has also been canceled. Thank you for your understanding. Learn More: www.metopera.org/updates." Facebook. March 12, 2020.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/10163327604920533

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Technical rehearsals for François Girard’s haunting new production of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer are underway this week. In choreographer Carolyn Choa’s vision of the famous Act II Spinning Chorus, heavy ropes hang down from the flies, filling the Met’s expansive stage. On stage March 2–March 27: bit.ly/2Lcp4kX Photos by Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera.” Facebook. Aug. 28, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10162385517955533

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Der Fliegende Holländer.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 8000 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Der Fliegende Holländer {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/27/1889.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=8000

"Season Cancellation." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357448 Season Cancellation March 12-May 9, 2020. Metropolitan Opera House: 03/12/2020.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357448

Woolfe, Zachary. "The Metropolitan Opera Season That Vanished." The New York Times > Arts > Music. May 13, 2020.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/13/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-coronavirus.html