Richard Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer is given an authentic German treatment by the
Staatskapelle Berlin, the chorus of the Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin, and a roster of all-star opera singers. This album features highlights from the more lengthy work and contains choruses, arias, and a majestic overture. There is a good deal to praise on this album.
Fritz Wunderlich's crisp, expressive tenor comes across on "Mit Gewitter und Sturm," and one could only wish there was more of him on the album.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings his aria "Die Frist ist um" with fabulous diction: every R is rolled where it should be rolled, every word is absolutely clear. There is a sense of his deathly despair through his careful attention to the text. Perhaps the highlight among the male leads is Rudolph Schock as Erik. He has the most urgency and emotion of anyone in the cast; the listener truly believes him, for his sentiments are straight from the heart. One understands that he wants Senta to stay in "Bleib', Senta" and feels his pain in "Willst jenes Tag's." The female leads feature the sweet, feminine voice of Marianne Schech, who has excellent vocal control (though her phrasing and expression tend to sound the same), and the fuller, heavier sound of
Sieglinde Wagner. They are arguably not as noteworthy as the men on the album, and one might extrapolate this to the album as a whole. It is certainly full of technically able musicians, from the orchestra to the chorus to the soloists. But overall, there is a sense of energy that is lacking (with the exception, as mentioned above, of Schock). Wagner is arguably one of the most dramatic composers, and yet one wishes the musicians would have pushed the envelope a bit more to draw out the drama further. There are hints of this, such as at the very end of the album, where the orchestration is fantastically dramatic and then wanes into a tender passage before rising to a crescendo; the chorus is certainly joyous and powerful in "Steuermann, laß die Wacht!" But the general effect is one of solid competence, rather than exquisite artistry. Originally recorded in 1960, the sound is overall quite good, although perhaps something might have gotten lost in the quality of the recording, even if it has been remastered with modern technology.