An Illuminating ‘Dutchman’

Opera designers and stage directors like to make a splash with Wagner’s operas, and “The Flying Dutchman” is an easy target.

It has been updated, downsized, reinvented, shorn of its intermissions and played in one act, abstracted and simplified--always in the name of relevance and dramatic illumination. The opera-goer must be grateful when “Dutchman” is still recognizable as the mythological tragedy of the doomed sailor and the obsessive young woman who offers him redemption.

The new production that San Diego Opera is playing, through Wednesday, is not outrageous, but it is abstract. No scenery clutters the stage, though there are two small constructions to anchor the action.

Designer Constantinos Kritikos and stage director David Edwards use lighting--especially a moving box of colored light, varied in size and frequency of appearance--to suggest mood or milieu, and to frame the singing actors. Whole banks of lights hang over the stage before the opera begins, rise as the performance begins, then return at the end. A reminder that this is only a show?

Costumes, on the other hand, reflect the time of the opera’s premiere in 1843. They look confining and repressive--the men’s and women’s choruses seem depressingly like middle-class burghers.

In this 19th century setting, the music drama plays effectively, despite the distractions offered by those moving squares and rectangles of colored light.

More important, it also sounds convincing. The San Diego Opera Orchestra, under the authoritative guidance of resident conductor Karen Keltner, makes compelling Wagnerian music to underline strong singing from the principals, who move well and convincingly in Edward’s sensible staging.

Robert Hale makes believable the Dutchman’s agonizing situation and his timeless youth, matching his compelling acting with a voice of heartiness and resonance. Hale’s bass-baritone is a young and robust voice despite his status as a veteran Wagnerian and a Dutchman who has been singing the role since 1978.

His commanding Senta is British soprano Rita Cullis, who has all the vocal beauty, size and pungency the role requires plus a thrilling poise in the acting of it. Her appearance on the Civic Theatre stage has to be one of the high points of this memorable San Diego Opera season.

Despite some wobbling sounds early on, Daniel Sumegi copes manfully with the demands of Daland. John Keyes blustered convincingly as Erik. Joseph Hu made healthy and attractive sounds as the Steersman. And Ilse Apestegui proved impressive in the often thankless role of Mary.

Well-prepared by Timothy Todd Simmons, the two choruses sang lustily and clearly.

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San Diego Opera presents “The Flying Dutchman,” San Diego Civic Theatre, 1200 3rd Avenue, San Diego, Friday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; and Wednesday, 7 p.m. $33-$107. (619) 570-1100.