The works of Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi together largely dominated the important world of nineteenth-century opera. But the two could not have been more different in almost every regard—save that of musical excellence. Verdi built simply upon the traditional elements of Italian opera and took them to new heights of dramatic artistry and coherence, gradually incorporating some progressive reforms of the medium as he grew into old age. Wagner, on the other hand, after his early attempts, and some real successes thereafter, embarked upon an unprecedented, new theoretical thrust in opera composition that changed forever the history of music. While Verdi had long Italian tradition to draw upon, Wagner took upon himself to build upon Carl Maria von Weber’s seminal work, Der Freischütz (1823), and create a German romantic opera tradition, more or less from scratch. To be sure, his time in Paris as a young man exposed him to the French grand operas of Meyerbeer and others, and they played an important part in his development, notwithstanding his later contempt for, and denial of that obvious fact. Wagner is the poster boy for great artists who are reprehensible human beings. His notorious antisemiticism—especially towards Meyerbeer, to whom he owed much--was only one of his moral failings. The Nazi Party famously made hay with that.
After completing his two early operas—now of historical interest only—in 1837 he took a position with the opera company in Riga. With his new bride, Minna, during his time there he compounded his earlier bankruptcy with even greater debts, a lifelong problem. Their passports were confiscated and their solution was simply to sneak out of town with their giant Newfoundland dog, Robber, leaving their creditors in the lurch. They fled by ship in 1839, across the Baltic and North Seas, during which tumultuous storms battered their ship, and which seem to be the inspiration for the first of his middle period operas, The Flying Dutchman. The couple soon found themselves in Paris for a few years, and there he completed The Flying Dutchman and Rienzi. And, of course, in the meantime, more poverty and indebtedness ensued.
The story of The Flying Dutchman finds its origin in Heinrich Heine’s version of the legend, in an 1833 novel. A simple tale, it is the story of a blasphemous sea captain who is doomed to spend eternity sailing the seas for invoking the Devil. Somewhat enigmatically, he can only be released from his fate by the love of a virtuous, faithful woman. We’ll ignore the complex gender issues implied by that. And so, he gets a chance once every seven years to go ashore and find such a woman. There are few rôles in the opera; the three principal ones are “The Flying Dutchman,” his paramour, Senta, and her previous lover, Erik.
The Flying Dutchman bribes Senta’s father for her hand, and he agrees. She fall for him and all seems well. But, after The Flying Dutchman mistakenly assumes that Senta will return to Erik, he sails off in despair, Senta throws herself into the sea and drowns—in equal despair at his departure, and the opera ends with the both of them ascending in heaven. Her faithfulness to death by suicide has redeemed him, a truly nineteenth-century romantic opera dénouement.
The overture was composed after the opera was complete, and is largely comprised of musical elements from the opera proper. The principal ingredients are the inimitable, deft depictions of oceanic storms; the dramatic fanfare-like theme of the “Flying Dutchman,” himself; the soft, tender music of Senta, and the jolly Norwegian sailor’s chorus.The Flying Dutchman is the first of Wagner’s works to have found a secure place in the repertory, and displays many of the elements that would go on to distinguish his contributions to music drama, as well as the larger musical world. But its audiences today inevitably enjoy and focus on his adroit evocation of the ocean’s stormy seas. That musical depiction has gone on in innumerable dramatic references, and we rather expect it even in today’s movie scores. But, Wagner was first.
--Wm. E. Runyan
©2023 William E. Runyan