Der Fliegende Holländer, Royal Opera House

Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is the star attraction in this production of Der fliegende Holländer, the first of Wagner’s great masterpieces. Directed by David Albery and first performed in 2009, this production has a contemporary setting and a muted palettel; in striking contrast to the grandeur of Wagner's score
The plot follows a tormented Dutch sea captain, who is condemned to spend his life sailing the oceans unless he finds a woman who will love him faithfully. He is only allowed back on shore once every seven years to search for that woman. When he meets Senta, he hopes she will free him from his curse, but their love on earth is doomed.
Within the first few bars of the overture, Wagner transports the listener to the wild, raging sea, one of several leitmotifs that are introduced and then repeated throughout the opera - a typical Wagnerian trait that he used in all his operas to represent particular characters, objects and themes.
In this production, which was first staged with Terfel in 2009, director Tim Albery and designer Michael Levine have constructed a rolling metal sheet to suggest the rough seas, the huge ship and the bleak Norwegian port, which is home to Senta and her father. It conjures up a mythological, timeless landscape, while at the same time portraying the hardships of life for the local fishermen and factory women.
Albery opts for a slightly different ending to the one that Wagner envisioned, which left some reviewers a little perplexed. But he remains true to Wagner’s original score, designed to be performed as one act, and there is no interval.