Opera North S Dutchman Flies Into Concert Halls

Press Release 20 May 2015

OPERA NORTH’S DUTCHMAN FLIES INTO CONCERT HALLS

Opera North continues its Wagnerian voyage with a new concert staging of The Flying Dutchman, the perfect introduction to the music of Richard Wagner.

The Flying Dutchman is performed in Summer 2015, following Opera North’s four triumphant instalments of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in successive years, in concert halls across the country. For those who have followed Opera North’s Ring, The Flying Dutchman is simultaneously an unmissable encore, and a prelude to the Company’s six complete Ring cycles in 2016.

All performances are conducted by the Company’s Music Director Richard Farnes, increasingly recognised as one of today’s leading Wagner conductors following the award-winning Ring. Peter Mumford also returns to Opera North to create an atmospheric and dramatic concert staging with immersive visuals and projections, together with costume design by Fotini Dimou.

The myth of the Dutchman, doomed to wander the seas eternally unless he finds redemption through love, has fascinated artists for centuries. From the tale of a phantom ship, a satanic curse, and a love more powerful than death itself, Wagner constructed a thrillingly taut music-drama that grips from the first storm-tossed notes of the famous overture to the work’s transcendent final moments.

Casting for The Flying Dutchman features some of the best international Wagnerians in a generation, many of whom are also part of Opera North’s Ring. Alwyn Mellor sings Senta, having performed Sieglinde (Die Walküre) and Brünnhilde (Götterdämmerung) for Opera North, roles she will return to sing in the Company’s 2016 Ring. She has also recently sung Brünnhilde for Den Nye Opera, Oper Leipzig, Seattle Opera, and Paris Opera, among others, and Isolde for Washington National Opera and Opéra national de Bordeaux. Hungarian baritone Béla Perencz (Wotan Die Walküre; The Wanderer Siegfried) sings the title role of the Dutchman. In addition to Opera North’s Ring, Perencz has also sung the title role in Macbeth for the Company and is a regular principal artist with the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest.

Estonian tenor Mati Turi (title role Siegfried; Siegfried Götterdämmerung) here sings Erik. He has previously taken the title roles in Parsifal and Tannhäuser in Chemnitz and Tallinn respectively, as well as Siegfried in Enschede and Longborough. Swedish bass Mats Almgren (Fafner Siegfried; Hagen Götterdämmerung) returns to sing Daland, Welsh mezzo Ceri Williams sings May, and Mark Le Brocq is the Steersman. They are joined on stage by the critically-acclaimed Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North.

The Flying Dutchman opens at Leeds Town Hall on Saturday 27 June before touring to Sage Gateshead, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham.

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN Richard Wagner (1843) Dramatic performance for concert halls

Sung in German with English titles Lasts approximately 2 hours 30 mins, with no interval

The Dutchman Béla Perencz Senta Alwyn Mellor Daland Mats Almgren Erik Mati Turi Mary Ceri Williams Steersman Mark Le Brocq

Conductor Richard Farnes Concert Staging and Design Concept Peter Mumford Lighting and Projection Designer Peter Mumford Costume Designer Fotini Dimou

Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North

Financially supported by the Opera North Future Fund

/ENDS Performance Listings:

Leeds Town Hall Sat 27 Jun The Flying Dutchman 7.30pm Press night Tue 30 Jun The Flying Dutchman 7.30pm

Sage Gateshead Fri 03 Jul The Flying Dutchman 7.30pm

Symphony Hall, Birmingham Sun 05 Jul The Flying Dutchman 4.00pm

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Wed 08 Jul The Flying Dutchman 7.30pm

Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Sat 11 Jul The Flying Dutchman 7.30pm

For further information, interviews and images, please contact:

Julia Gregg, Press & Communications Manager [email protected] 0113 223 3526

Sian Dudley, Press Officer [email protected] 0113 223 3528 www.operanorth.co.uk/press-centre