
With The Flying Dutchman, the Deutsche Oper Berlin presents Richard Wagner's early masterpiece about longing, damnation, and redemption.
The production by Christian Spuck, Artistic Director of the Berlin State Ballet, interprets the romantic opera as a dark fairy tale of memories – told from the perspective of the hunter Erik, Senta's spurned admirer. Supported by Sir Donald Runnicles at the conductor's podium, a dreamlike world of images emerges, oscillating between reality, obsession, and fantasy.
The Flying Dutchman – Wagner's Opera about Love, Death, and Redemption
The legendary Dutchman is a cursed man who sails the seas forever – searching for a woman whose faithful love can redeem him. He believes he has found this redeemer in Senta, but she, too, is an outsider: driven by romantic ideals and the longing for a mythical union. Richard Wagner, inspired by Heinrich Heine's ironic work, created The Flying Dutchman in 1841, his first opera, which features the central motif of his later work: redemption through love in death.
The opera marks the transition from grand opera (Rienzi) to German Romantic opera in the style of Carl Maria von Weber and Heinrich Marschner – and simultaneously the beginning of Wagner's own musical language.
Christian Spuck's Nightmare World of Erik
Director and choreographer Christian Spuck transforms The Flying Dutchman into a dark world of the unconscious: full of projections, shadows, and memories. The focus is not on the eponymous sailor, but on the hunter Erik – a realistic lover who must helplessly watch as Senta loses herself in a dream world. His perspective lends the opera a new emotional depth: an eternal nightmare in which loss, longing, and madness blur together.
Cast:
- Derek Welton as the Dutchman
- Flurina Stucki as Senta
- Kieran Carrel as Erik
- Musical Director: Sir Donald Runnicles
- Director & Choreographer: Christian Spuck
Approx. 2 hours 15 minutes / No interval
Sung in German with German and English surtitles
Additional information
Romantic opera in three acts
Music and text by Richard Wagner World premiere: 2nd January 1843 in Dresden
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin: 7th May 2017
Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance
Music and text by Richard Wagner World premiere: 2nd January 1843 in Dresden
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin: 7th May 2017
Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance
Participating artists
Sir Donald Runnicles (Musikalische Leitung)
Christian Spuck (Inszenierung)
Rufus Didwiszus (Bühne)
Emma Ryott (Kostüme)
Ulrich Niepel (Licht)
Jeremy Bines (Chöre)
Patrick Guetti (Daland)
Flurina Stucki (Senta)
Kieran Carrel (Erik)
Stephanie Wake-Edwards (Mary)
Andrei Danilov (Steuermann)
Derek Welton (Holländer)
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Chöre)
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Orchester)
Dates
January 2026
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