The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner

The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner, organized by the Monte-Carlo Opera, will be on stage of the Grimaldi Forum on Sunday 2 November 2025 at 3 pm.

Romantic opera in three acts
Music and libretto by Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Premiere: Dresden, Königliches Hoftheater, January 2, 1843

Musical Director | Gianluca Marcianò
Choirmaster | Stefano Visconti

Daland | Albert Dohmen
Senta | Asmik Grigorian
Erik | Daniel Behle
Mary | Angharad Lyddon
The Pilot | Trystan Llŷr Griffiths
The Dutchman | Sir Bryn Terfel

Chorus of the Monte-Carlo Opera
Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra

The common threads that run through the season are woven from this first evening: a dive into mythology, the dreamlike world, and the power of the feminine. In this Wagner opera, the ancestral myth of the cursed sailor seems to be the expression of a tormented spirit. In order to round the Cape of Good Hope, a Dutch sailor cursed God and the forces of nature. For his actions, he is condemned to wander the seas forever, only able to disembark every seven years until he finds a wife faithful in life and in death. Senta, an exalted young Norwegian woman, and her friends sit at the spinning wheel. Although promised to the hunter Erik, she is seduced by the description of a mysterious man. Senta’s father returns from a voyage with a haggard guest, whom she identifies as the object of her dreams. When the two declare their mutual love, Erik bursts in. The foreign sailor is none other than the Flying Dutchman, once again betrayed by women. To save him from his damnation, Senta throws herself from a nearby cliff. The music of this early Wagner opera depicts the force of the elements as romantically as the feeling of love. But he also introduces a major theme of his later works: if men can sin, women must redeem themselves…