Photo: Presto MusicWagner: Der fliegende Holländer
A Ship That Never Docks
He cursed himself, so he roams the seas forever. Every seventh year he gets one chance to come ashore, to find a woman who will truly love him.
This is Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), an opera of redemption and sacrifice.
And this 2025 Decca recording brings together some of the brightest names in opera today—Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley.
A Valkyrie’s Voice
Lise Davidsen plays Senta—the girl obsessed with the Dutchman’s legend, willing to sacrifice herself for him.
Davidsen possesses one of the rarest instruments in opera today: a huge, lustrous dramatic soprano. Here she does not simply “bombard” with full force, but handles Senta’s obsession, innocence, and final sacrifice with clear shading.
That famous “Senta’s Ballad” is, in her hands, both a retelling of the legend and a confession of a girl’s inner longing.
The Dutchman’s Curse
Gerald Finley’s Dutchman is the emotional core of the opera.
Finley’s voice is low and resonant; that cursed, weary yet redemption-seeking complexity is rendered with great conviction. His Dutchman is not a simple “tragic hero,” but a soul tormented by fate.
Live in Oslo
This recording was made live at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo in August 2024, conducted by Edward Gardner, who took over the company in 2024.
The benefit of a live recording is its theatrical immediacy and energy. The Norwegian National Opera’s orchestra and chorus, under Gardner, render Wagner’s stormy overture and sailors’ chorus with sweeping power.
This recording won the 2025 Gramophone Best Opera Recording award.
Why Listen
For many, Wagner’s operas are a “high barrier.” But The Flying Dutchman is one of his most accessible works—it is shorter, more direct in melody, and its themes are relatively easy to grasp.
And the pairing of Davidsen and Finley, under Gardner’s baton, makes this recording one of the best Dutchmen of recent years.
Further Listening
If you love this kind of opera of the sea and redemption, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra is another choice. And for Davidsen’s dramatic soprano world, Fatma Said’s Lieder offers art songs.
About the Performer
Norwegian dramatic soprano (b. 1987). Winner of both the 2015 Operalia and Queen Sonja competitions. One of today's leading dramatic sopranos.
Canadian bass-baritone, CBE, a Metropolitan Opera mainstay.
British conductor, music director of the Norwegian National Opera since 2024.
Norway's national opera company based in Oslo.
About the Composer
German composer and revolutionary (1813–1883), whose music dramas transformed opera. The Flying Dutchman (1843) is among his early masterpieces.
Taiwan Performance History
Soprano Lise Davidsen and bass-baritone Gerald Finley have no documented performances in Taiwan. Neither's official schedules nor public records list Taiwan dates.