Mark Delvan and Indra Thomas.
The Princeton Festival is set to celebrate composer Richard Wagner 200th birthday by performing the Flying Dutchman.
In collaboration with The Wagner Society of New York, the festival is set to present Der fliegende Hollander at McCarter Theatre 8 p.m. June 22 and 3 p.m. June 30.
The Flying Dutchman cast features Metropolitan Opera star Mark Delavan, who most recently played Wotan in this spring’s Ring cycle at the Met. Delavan plays the Dutchman.
Richard Bernstein is set to play Daland. His daughter Senta is played bysoprano Indra Thomas and her nurse, Mary, is sung by Dana Beth Miller, who also sings the same role with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Two young tenors round out the cast with Jason Wickson as Mary’s thwarted lover Erik and Alex Richardson as Daland’s steersman.
Richardson played Rinuccio in last year’s Festival production of Gianni Schicchi.
The production team remains much the same as previous years; Richard Tang Yuk conducts, Steven LaCosse is the director, Norman Coates is lighting designer, Marie Miller for costumes and Martha Muskai for wig and make-up design.
Built on the legacy of Italian opera, The Flying Dutchman introduces the harmonies, leitmotifs and psychological depths which identify Wagner’s music dramas.
The story follows the Dutchman, who has been cursed to sail the seas forever and allowed to set foot on land every seven years in the hope of finding a woman whose love and fidelity will redeem him. He finds passionate love with Senta, only to overhear her former lover, Erick, accuse her of infidelity. In despair, the Flying Dutchman sets sail and Senta leaps into the sea.
More information is online at princetonfestival.org.
