Performance

The concept of THE FLYING DUTCHMAN came from literary sources, and its musical and poetic atmosphere had an additional autobiographical background. Wagner modeled his work directly on a short story by Heinrich Heine, which served him to prepare its stage version. Still, Heine’s story turned into a personal and tangible experience, going back to the time when Wagner had for several weeks sailed from Riga to London on board a schooner amidst a raging storm. That encounter with the forces of nature inspired Wagner to prepare the libretto and also influenced his music, which presented the raging sea in a pictorial way.
Although the opera evinces few influences of Italian and Romantic French operas, yet it  undoubtedly certifies to the uncommon individuality of its author.  THE FLYING DUTCHMAN is sometimes still termed a Romantic opera, yet it is a forerunner of the future music drama with its characteristic leitmotifs.  One can hear a monumental orchestra which co-creates the work, the libretto has been prepared by the composer himself, and the subject of the great love affair has been treated with philosophical depth, worthy of the future author of Tristan and Isolde.