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Well before his epic story of gods, Valkyries, and a magical ring, composer Richard Wagner told a very different supernatural tale—a romantic ghost story. Straight from maritime mythology, Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) is about a ghostly captain cursed to roam the seas for eternity, only able to come to shore once every seven years so that he might find true love and permanently end the curse.
This is the first opera of Houston Grand Opera's 2018-2019 season, and their first back in the Wortham Theater Center after it was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. As Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers says, "It's been an overwhelmingly emotional time to be back."
And coming shortly after the company's four-year run of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, this opera is a significantly lighter commitment, and "it's a perfect first, big German opera [for newcomers]," says Summers, noting the show's length of just over two hours, about the length of a feature film.
You can learn more about the upcoming HGO season and this production of Der fliegende Holländer in my conversation with Patrick Summers above.
The Flying Dutchman is on stage October 19th through November 2nd, with five total shows. Check out Houston Grand Opera's website for information and tickets.
