In preparation for the
Wagner bicentennial in 2013,
Marek Janowski and
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and
Rundfunkchor Berlin began an ambitious project of recording the composer's ten major operas for Pentatone with Der fliegende Holländer in 2010. The recording's strongest points are the stellar performances by the orchestra and chorus; there's real fire and passion in their playing and singing. This is not
Wagner's most dramatically coherent opera, but
Janowski manages to keep the momentum going and the big moments are genuinely stirring. The leads are mostly very fine but not consistently memorable; the general lack of real distinction keeps this from being a contender as a top-ranked recording of the opera. Daland has been a signature role for
Matti Salminen, who delivers the strongest performance among the leads; his characterization is sharply and vividly realized, and while his noble voice shows its age, it's appropriate for the role. As the Dutchman,
Albert Dohmen has a vocal quality not sufficiently differentiated from
Salminen's, and although his singing is never less than adequate, he fails to convey the character's mythic dimensions.
Ricarda Merbeth as Senta has a voice that's large enough for the part but that's somewhat hard and inflexible, and that fails to generate much sympathy for her character.
Robert Dean Smith usually sounds strained as Erik, except in his relatively rare quiet passages. The singer who makes the strongest and most lingering impression is
Steve Davislim in the small role of the Steersman. The sound is clean, full, and nicely nuanced.