Der Fliegender Hollander

L and I went to the symphony to enjoy a performance of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman. It was another opera that was performance based rather than a full theatrical production but this amazing soprano playing Senta the love interest had an incredible voice - Heidi Melton. This tale of being cursed to sail the seas because of stubborn defiance and redemption through the love and faithfulness of a woman is an example of Wagner’s integration of words, music and theatre. The music is rich with recurring themes that belong to characters and events, called “leitmotifs” in German and Wagner was the original instigator of this style of musical connection since repeated many times even in the John Williams music for Star Wars where Darth Vader and Luke among others have their own “leitmotifs”. A good night out to celebrate a much smaller tax bill than expected! I am also going to post a picture of a strange wind noise instrument I had never seen before in an orchestra.