AN ATTEMPT AT A NEW ANALYSIS AND RECONSTRUCTION OF RICHARD WAGNER’S FLYING DUTCHMAN (1843)
AN ATTEMPT AT A NEW ANALYSIS AND RECONSTRUCTION OF RICHARD WAGNER’S FLYING DUTCHMAN (1843)

Summary/Abstract: To progress in the field of lyrical art, one must draw strength from origin. As water flows inevitably from source to sea. The legend of “The Flying Dutchman” (Der Fliegende Holländer) came to Wagner’s mind during the violent storm that broke as he left Riga for France. At the genesis of this opera, stands the sovereign power of nature, carrying within it the secret destiny of man. As an enigma. The main theme of the cursed captain would be today differently understood. Because romanticism, limitless love and supreme sacrifice, redemption, are gone over. But face from the sea in fury, man’s heart stays with fundamental interrogation about meaning of life and existence. One could read this raging ocean as the mirror of a tormented, wandering, unstable conscience. That’s why “The Flying Dutchman” is ever contemporary. We propose to extract (to save) from these upset waters the true Leitmotif, unperishable, that leads to the dawn of Future. Our method lies in total freedom of interpretation and complete reconstruction of this Wagner’s masterpiece.

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