Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Few mariners would deny the possibility of Sisyphean ghost ships, forever sailing through tempest and tumult. Richard Wagner’s fantastical 1843 opera “The Flying Dutchman” finds drama in the possibility of a return to port for the titular Netherlander. If The Dutchman, cursed to find land only every seven years, can coax the love of a true and faithful woman, the curse will be lifted."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Lyric Opera has assembled one of the finest casts in recent history to perform this saga of a doomed sea captain, known only as the mysterious “Dutchman,” who must sail the seas for seven years until he is given just 24 hours to land and win a woman’s love, or be tempest-tossed for another seven years (until he can try again)."
Chicago On the Aisle
- Highly Recommended
"...The sorry plight of Wagner’s Senta, the lass who obsesses about the accursed sea captain in “The Flying Dutchman,” always puts me in mind of Schubert’s plaintive Gretchen at the spinning wheel, bereft of peace and heavy of heart. “Dutchman” is one dark opera, populated by distraught or deeply neurotic characters for whom there is no relief and never will be. Still, there is a certain radiance to the bleakness and it suffuses a compelling account of Wagner’s music-drama at Lyric Opera of Chicago."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...A bold choice with which to open the opera and Halloween seasons, Wagner's The Flying Dutchman hits all the right notes and sets a spooky tone. From the composer's magnificent and moody overture to the opera's mythological subject (inspired by the Wandering Jew of legend), this Lyric production packs a powerful punch. At 2 hours and 20 minutes without intermission, The Flying Dutchman leaves audiences feeling exhilarated, but not exhausted. This production provides a perfect balance of stagecraft and scenery, cast and orchestra, acting and singing."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...This is Big Music– the kind that you can feel through your skeleton! The sea captain Daland, the papa of our heroine is a bass, Mika Kares who Chicagoans got to enjoy in Don Giovanni. The Dutchman is a bass-baritone with serious acting chops, Tomasz Konieczny. And Senta, the self sacrificing woman upon whom the plot rests is Chicagoland’s homegrown Tamara Wilson, a dramatic soprano who can send chills up and down your spine.
Wagnerian sopranos are the stuff of legend, and this production is truly remarkable to hear what the human voice can do– like watching the vocal equivalent of Michael Jordan shooting hoops."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...The Lyric Opera opened its new season with stormy drama. The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), the 1843 opera in which composer Richard Wagner first exercised his mature style, is the first Wagner to be conducted here by the new music director Enrique Mazzola, who is also starting to make the Lyric his own. Though a simple story about a tormented ghost, it codified the musical tropes that would stir and excite us to this day, and Mazzola’s leadership of the massive chorus and orchestra brings its full power and sophistication to bear. And yet this production, directed by its originator Christopher Alden, finds humor and heart in the work as well, which still has plenty to say about obsession and parasocial relationships."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Enhanced by a remarkable production design, this thrilling, tragic ghost story is delivered by a superb cast of musical talents. Gifted Conductor Enrique Mazzola and production Director Christopher Alden have wrought a mind-blowing version of Richard Wagner’s tale of love and redemption, in which a ghostly voyage awaits every theatergoer. Especially for opera lovers, this is a thrilling production not to be missed."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Ahoy matey! Climb aboard Lyric’s thrilling, new-to-Chicago production of Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’ This spooky, nautical classic opens the 2023/24 season and is a perfect way to kick off the Halloween season. While short by Wagner standards, this two-and-a-half-hour opera is performed without intermission, but the cinematic score and dazzling theatrics make the time sail by. This Dutchman leaves its audience spellbound all the way through the final curtain call."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- Recommended
"...At least until Beetlejuice lands in Chicago next month, Tomasz Konieczny as the Dutchman is our resident ghost with the most, doomed to sail the seven seas for all eternity amassing treasures he has no hope of spending. Allen Moyer's listing wooden box only further amplifies his sepulchral tones."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...The Flying Dutchman is unlike anything else I have ever seen at the Lyric Opera. Let us start with the extremely talented cast of performers, who are all equally believable as their characters. Besides the famous main stars, we must not leave out the exceptional supporting ensemble, the Lyric Opera Chorus, without whom, there would not be The Flying Dutchman opera at all. The over 160 musical and dramatic artists also include the always magnificent Lyric Opera Orchestra, lead by music director Enrique Maza. The powerful music and orchestration is its own star in this grand operatic adventure."
