Welsh National Opera
Cardiff Bay
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

WELSH National Opera marked its 80th birthday with a blockbuster interpretation of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, in a new production for the company of the opera about the doomed ghost ship.

This is a mixed bag of a production with the intensity of the singing and acting turned up to maximum, but with a slight disconnect with the storyline.

Don’t get me wrong, this is well worth going to see and to get the chance to be absolutely gobsmacked at just how good the WNO chorus and principal singers are.

But the heart of the tale is the love story between the captain of the Flying Dutchman, sung with supernatural intensity here by Simon Bailey, and Senta, sung by Rachel Nicholls.

The Dutchman has been condemned to sail the world’s oceans for eternity by the Devil, but an Angel has intervened and said the curse will be lifted if he can marry for love with a woman who will be faithful to him for eternity.

The opportunity to lift the curse comes every seven years and the Dutchman’s ship moors up from a storm alongside another ship, captained by James Creswell’s Daland, who happens to be Senta’s father.

The avaricious Daland’s eyes light up when the Dutchman tells him he has treasure in his ship and so he offers to take the ghostly mariner home to stay and meet his daughter.

It just so happens that Senta knows the story of the Dutchman and is obsessed with the tale that only the love of a faithful woman will break the curse.

Of course, she is overjoyed when her father returns with the eponymous Dutchman and the two fall in love.

And this is where the disconnect between the stunning music and wall of sound conjured by the mighty WNO chorus and the actual story occurs.

We know that opera has absurd storylines and we do have to suspend our disbelief, but this was a bit of a stretch.

But my minor quibbles are more than overcome by the majesty of Wagner’s score, interpreted by the baton of conductor Tomas Hanus.

Hanus has been the WNO musical director for 10 years and this is his last production with the company, and what a high to bow out on.

I often praise the Welsh opera company’s chorus for their high-quality singing and acting, and they are exceptional here as the fishing village’s women-folk, the crew of Daland’s merchant ship and the ghostly ensemble of the Dutchman’s crew.

This is a fitting 80th birthday treat for the public and is well worth a visit.

Tours until May 15 — details from www.wno.org.uk