Notes from Behind a Biedermeier Column: The new Zurich ‘Holländer’ is assessed on the concert platform in London by Tash Siddiqui and on stage in Zurich by Laura Möckli

Review of Der fliegende Holländer, directed Homoki, conducted Altinoglu, Royal Festival Hall, London, 2012 (concert perf.) and Zurich, 2013.

July 2013, Volume 7, Number 2, 52–7.

As Alain Altinoglu and the Philharmonia Zurich launched into the first notes of Richard Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, the stage curtain remained tantalisingly closed, delaying the crucial moment of visual impact. Judging by the stunned silence and confused applause following the orchestra’s opening fireworks, I was not the only one who, left to my own devices, had already plunged into the world of tragic legend conjured up by Wagner’s evocative overture. However, when the curtain rises, these figments quickly evaporate: what meets the eye is not the anticipated stormy ocean scene, but rather a gigantic panelled oak construction that fills a large part of the centre stage. How could one not be a bit disappointed? But also curious upon realising that this dark Biedermeier obstacle constitutes the sole setting around which Andreas Homoki will direct his star-studded cast.