Review: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, Opera Holland Park

Stormy weather and an enthusiastic audience mark Julia Burbach’s The Flying Dutchman as it proves a smashing success to open the 2025 season of Opera Holland Park.

This is the first time Opera Holland Park is staging one of Richard Wagner’s works. And a great choice it is: featuring a stunning score with an engagingly dramatic storyline,  Wagner’s first mature opera more than deserves its popularity. The turbulent overture and juxtaposition of stormy-sounding energy with moments of calm evoke the sea like no other opera. At press night, the windy weather creates an atmosphere that leaves the audience breathless. Peter Selwyn at the baton guides the City of London Sinfonia perfectly, bringing the opera to life with succinct regard for the music’s intricacies.

The story is simple, but powerful. The Dutchman (Paul Carey Jones) is doomed to spend eternity at sea unless he finds a woman who will be faithful to him until her death. One day he encounters Daland (Robert Winslade Anderson) and his daughter, Senta (Eleanor Dennis) and, seeking redemption, he attempts to win her love.

Paul Carey Jones as the Dutchman brings a powerful, deep voice to his role; he carries his character with a sense of gravitas through the score, always deep, always brooding with the weight of centuries on his shoulders. Eleanor Dennis’s soprano is beautifully bright and strong with a splendid strength to it. Her Senta carries a lot of potency in her engagement with the Dutchman, never flagging in her dedication. Robert Winslade Anderson’s Daland is similarly impressive and has an excellent rapport with Carey Jones whenever they’re on stage together; his good-humoured captain roots the story in a sense of pragmatism that underestimates the severity of the situation. Overall, the cast are magnificent choice.

Director Julia Burbach’s production amplifies the use of the small stage of Opera Holland Park. Naomi Dawson’s set is fairly low-key with a slanted, two-tiered ramp in the background and a stony terrain in the foreground. Costumes by Sussie Juhlin Wallén are used for atmospheric effect, which is supported by Robert Price’s stupendous lighting involving brilliant lightning effects.

This is simply a wonderful production of The Flying Dutchman where everything comes neatly together - a great performance with an outstanding cast, wonderful interpretation of the music, and a production that demonstrates how to put on a Wagner in such a small space. A tremendous success.

The Flying Dutchman is at Opera Holland Park until 14 June