Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’ @ Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Photos/art courtesy of FWSO
—Wayne Lee Gay
This weekend's program of Richard Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra makes a strong case for a semi-staged version of that particular opera—and includes an unforgettably magnificent performance by soprano Heidi Melton in the role of Senta.
What, exactly, is a semi-staged performance of an opera? Options vary widely under the "semi-staged" umbrella and the closely related concept of the "concert version." For the performances this weekend at Bass Performance Hall, the orchestra and chorus are onstage in standard concert attire, and the principal singers move, sing, and interact in appropriate costumes in front of the orchestra, with sparse but evocative sets and some well-planned lighting effects and abstract projections.
Music director Robert Spano has, in his tenure, created a tradition of presenting dramatic works in this way, including in recent seasons Puccini's La Boheme, Act I of Wagner's Die Walküre—and, earlier this year, Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka. Live dramatic visualizations of Talbot's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet have been announced for the 2025-26 season. With strong orchestral performance as the foundation, the results so far have been generally successful and often moving.
And this is unquestionably a fine performance of Wagner's legend-inspired score. The Fort Worth Symphony, in full Wagnerian force, is in top form this weekend, with precise and rich tone from the string sections. Conductor Spano creates well-focused momentum in this sea of musical complexity—occasionally, however, allowing the brass sections to blast at too high a volume, particularly in the Overture. Fort Worth's Kantorei chorus and the A Capella Choir of the University of Texas at Arliongton maneuver skillfully through the demanding choral sections. Designer Nicole Alvarez has created dark, straightforward costumes for the cast, including a wonderfully forbidding black caped coat for the Dutchman; flashy projections and lighting by Greg Emetaz and Alex Mason, respectively, substitute nicely for physical sets.
Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley towers commandingly, both physically and vocally, in the title role. Bass Raymond Aceto likewise portrays a complex, vocally fine vision of Daland; German tenor Viktor Antipenko's sturdy but vocally textureless performance as Erik is less successful. Tenor Jonathan Kaufman displays a brilliantly resonant tenor quality as the Helmsman, while Texas-born, Baylor-trained Luretta Bybee presents the most firmly convincing dramatic portrayal of the production as Mary, with her gorgeously subtle mezzo-soprano.
But the star among stars is soprano Melton as Senta. Her voice is at once powerful and beautiful, stunning from her first note to her final, grand apotheosis. No stage director is named in the program book, but the interaction of the cast is unfailingly convincing, particularly in Melton's portrayal of an obsessive-compulsive and entirely fascinating version of Senta.
WHERE: Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth
WHEN: April 11-13, 2025 (last performance Sunday afternoon)
WEB: fwsymphony.org
