Education Guide The Flying Dutchman by ... - Edmonton Opera

Edmonton Opera 

Education Guides 

2008/2009 

Presented By 

Inside this Guide…. 

This guide was prepared by 

Brianna Wells 

Section 1: What is Opera 

Opera Etiquette …………………………………………………………………... 2 

What is Opera ?…………………………………………………………………….3 

History ……………………………………………………………………………. 4 

Activity: Who’s Who in Opera ………………………………………………… 5 

The Operatic Voice..……………………………………………………………… 6 

Anatomy of Sound ………………………………………………………………. 8 

Activity: Opera is Everywhere! ...………………………………………………10 

Activity: Opera is Storytelling………………………………………………….11 

Section 2: The Flying Dutchman 

The Cast ………………………………………………………………………….. 14 

Synopsis ………………………………………………………………………….. 15 

The Story Behind the Story……..………………………………………………. 17 

The Dutchman Adapts! ………………………………………...…………….… 18 

Activity: Legendary Legends…………………………………………………...19 

Activity: The Setting……………………………………………………………. 20 

What is Expressionism? .…………………………………………………………21 

Biography………………………………………………………………………….20 

Activity: Historical Perspective.………………………………………………. 22 

Activity: Leitmotif, Theme Songs, and Bingo………………………………..23 

Discussion Questions ……………………………………………………………28 

Education Guide 

The Flying Dutchman 

by Richard Wagner 

1

Opera Etiquette 

ALWAYS BE EARLY! Once a performance begins, no one will be allowed 

into the theatre until intermission because it will disrupt other patrons. We 

suggest you arrive half an hour early to pick up your tickets, and prepare to 

enter the auditorium fifteen minutes prior to showtime. 

USE THE RESTROOM. Once in the theatre it is courteous to remain seated 

and involved in the production until intermission. Please do not leave the 

theatre unless there is an emergency. 

PLEASE BE COURTEOUS to everyone in the audience and on stage. Theatre 

is live performance, so any talking, cell-phone use (including texting) or other 

noise/light disruption takes away from everyone’s experience at the opera. 

APPLAUSE WELCOME! Opera is spectacle. Your presence in the audience 

is essential to complete the whole experience. Enjoy the performance and 

respond to what you see. Unlike television or film, every live performance is 

unique: only you and the performers will share the experience you have in the 

theatre. Your warmth and good humour are important to them, so when you 

like something, tell them with your applause. 

NO FOOD, DRINKS, OR GUM IN THE THEATRE. This rule is strictly 

enforced. 

NO CAMERAS OR TAPE RECORDERS: the artists’ images and 

performances belong to them and we ask you to respect that by refraining 

from recording their work in any way. 




2

What is Opera? 

The word opera is the plural form of the Latin word opus (which translates quite 

literally as work). Today we use the word opera to refer to a theatrically based musical art form 

in which the drama is sung (without microphones!), rather than spoken, and is accompanied by 

a full symphony orchestra. 

Opera was born out of the belief that drama can be better expressed by music and text than by 

text alone. One of the unique things about opera is how it combines so many different art forms 

(music, drama, and visual arts) to create an artistic spectacle. Of course, the use of many art 

forms means that there are many people involved in the creation and production of an opera. 

These may include: 

Composer: Writes the music 

Librettist: Chooses a story, writes or adapts the words 

Conductor: Leads the musicians 

Director: Blocks or stages the entire production 

Principal Singers: Have the leading and supporting roles 

Chorus: Sing as a group 

Supernumeraries: Act but do not sing 

Repetiteur: Accompanies singers during rehearsal, plays the whole orchestral score on 

piano 

Costume Designer: Designs the costumes for each character 

Wardrobe/Costume Staff: fit, clean and repair costumes; help singers put costumes on 

Wig Staff: Make wigs and prepare make-up 

Make-up Staff: Apply make-up for principal singers, assist chorus with make-up 

Set Designer: Designs the scenery for each scene 

Lighting Designer: Designs lighting effects 

Prop Builders: Build/buy all the set pieces that are not structural 

Stage Manager: “Calls the show” -- cues scenery changes, lighting and actors so that 

everything happens at the right time. 

Stagehands: Move scenery; run lighting & sound cues 

Front of House Staff: Work in the performance venue: seating patrons, operating coat 

check 

Artistic Director: Chooses which shows to produce and which artists to hire 

Administrative Staff: Find funding (!); sell tickets; hire artists; take care of the business 

side of opera. 

Audience: Enjoys and appreciates opera from a seat in the hall! 

Critic: Writes a critique of performance for newspaper, radio, or TV 




3

A Short History of Opera 

Opera as an art form began with the inclusion of incidental music performed during the tragedies and 

comedies popular during ancient Greek times. The tradition of including music as an integral part of 

theatrical activities expanded in Roman times and continued throughout the Middle Ages. Traditional 

view holds that the first completely sung musical drama (or opera) developed in Florence in the 1570s by 

an informal group of composers, musicians and artists known as the Florentine Camerata, which led to 

the musical setting of Rinuccini’s drama, Dafne, by composer Jacopo Peri in 1597. 

In the 17 th century, Italian masters Giulio Caccini and Claudio Monteverdi developed a kind of musical 

entertainment where a story – including the events, conversations, and characterizations – is told through 

singing and orchestral accompaniment. Two key components of these entertainments became hallmarks 

of opera: recitative sections and arias. Recitatives are song-speech, and the words are sung but with little 

or no recognizable melody, and with a rhythm that imitates those of speech. Recitatives function to 

further the storyline of the drama. Arias (Italian for “air”) are main songs that reveal both the emotion of 

the characters, and the qualities of the soloists’ voices. Additionally, there were groups of singers called 

the chorus, who played background characters of the story. Their songs were usually a comment on the 

action, much like the chorus from ancient Greek drama. 

Opera gained popularity throughout Europe in the late 17 th and 18 th centuries and Italian composers 

dominated the field (this is why operatic terms are often Italian words). German opera followed the lead 

of Italian opera through much of the 18 th century, with composers actually producing operas to be sung 

in Italian. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an Austrian composer, wrote some of the first German-language 

operas in the mid 18 th century, and also brought the technique of singspiel (“sing play” where spoken 

dialogue is used instead of recitative) to greater attention. Giaochino Rossini was the most popular 

composer at the turn of the 19 th century, and his best-known works were comic operas (known as opera 

buffa). Giuseppe Verdi, the most prolific and influential operatic composer in the 19 th century, emerged 

from the Italian bel canto and opera buffa styles to a new kind of opera, which focused on great emotion 

and dramatic portrayal of character, and began the path to realism in operatic stories. 

Also in the 19 th century, German composer Richard Wagner introduced the idea of through-composed 

operas, in which the distinctions between aria and recitative were to be blurred entirely. He also used 

leitmotif (wherein musical motives and phrases represent characters, ideas, or themes, and are reintroduced 

throughout the work as a way of musically telling the story). At the turn of the 19 th century, 

Giacomo Puccini followed his hero Verdi into the world of verismo opera, and told stories of common 

people with a depth of emotion and transcendence of musical lines that has not been surpassed. In 

France, George Bizet’s operas likewise focused on realistic characters and plots. Also at the turn of the 

20 th century, Austrian, British, and Spanish composers were extremely popular for their light operas (and 

operettas). 

Today opera continues to grow, both in new staging and productions, and in the creation of new works. 

American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass are credited with breathing new innovation 

into the art form, and Aaron Copeland took American history for the sources of his operatic works. John 

Estacio, an Edmonton composer and John Murrell (an Albertan playwright) recently created an opera 

called Filumena, which tells the story of the last woman executed in Alberta, and it was performed by 

Edmonton Opera in 2005. Opera may be 500 years old, but it continues to captivate audiences and tell 

important stories today! 




4

Student Handout 

Activity: “Who’s Who” in the World of Opera 

In the boxes below, use the clues to determine which composers fit into each century. 

Use “A Short History of Opera” to help. 

1600-1750 

• First “operas” 

• Development of 

recitative and aria 

Composers 

1750 - 1830 

• Introduction of 

singspiel 

• Popular opera buffa 

Composers 

Composers 

1. Georges 

Bizet 

2. Giulio 

Caccini 

1830 – 1890 

• Dramatic, emotional 

style 

• Through-composed 

opera 

• Leitmotif 

Composers 

1890 - 1920 

• Verismo opera 

• Soaring melodies 

Composers 

3. Claudio 

Monteverdi 

4. W.A. 

Mozart 

5. Giacomo 

Puccini 

6. Giaochini 

Rossini 

7. Giuseppi 

Verdi 

8. Richard 

Wagner 




5

The Operatic Voice 

Being an opera singer is hard work! Singers need to be physically strong and have 

superb technique in order to sustain long phrases (musical thoughts): this means they 

have excellent control of both the inhalation and exhalation of their breath. Likewise, 

their voices must maintain a resonance (using the cavities in the face to increase the 

audibility of the voice, even when singing quietly) in both the head (mouth, sinuses) 

and chest cavities. All this resonance is necessary to achieve the volume required to be 

heard above the orchestra that accompanies the singers. Opera singers do not usually 

use microphones, so they must project their voices throughout a whole theatre using 

only their muscles and technique! All voices are defined by both the actual voice “type” 

and the selection of repertoire for which the voice is ideally suited. The range, pitch, 

and tone of a singer’s voice will determine what kind of role they will play in the opera. 

Below are a list of the voice types (and ranges) commonly found in operas: 

Female Voice Types 

• Soprano (“sopra” = “over”) 

The highest pitched female voice. Soprano voices vary by 

sound type: there are coloratura sopranos, who 

can sing very high notes and rapid passages with ease, 

dramatic sopranos, whose voices have great power, and 

lyric sopranos, whose voices have exceptional beauty and can sustain long passages. 

Composers often (but not always) write the female lead role in an opera for a soprano. 

• Mezzo-Soprano (“mezzo” = “medium”) 

Lower than the soprano and higher than contralto. Usually 

plays either the character of a young boy (this is called a 

trouser role) or a complex character with energy 

and awareness of life, or an evil character. Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most famous 

mezzo roles in opera, and is a rare lead role for a mezzo. 

• Contralto (“contra” = “against” & “alto” = “high”) 

The lowest pitched female voice, these singers have a deep, 

well rounded sound. Contraltos more rare than sopranos 

or mezzos, and they are usually given the role of a maid, 

mother, or grandmother. Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene 

Onegin is one such role. 




6

Male Voice Types 

• Tenor (“tenere”= “to hold” - central notes of harmony) 

The highest sounding male voice: often the leading role. 

Tenors, like sopranos, can have lyric or dramatic sound 

quality. Luciano Pavarotti was one of the world’s most 

famous lyric tenors. Tenors typically play characters that 

fall in love with Sopranos, such as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. 

• Baritone (from the Greek term for “deep sounding”) 

Theses voices are more mellow-sounding and slightly 

lower than tenors. The roles sung by baritones are usually 

father figures or counts and other nobles, and these are 

often important roles in the story (like Rigoletto in Verdi’s 

Rigoletto). 

• Bass (“low”) 

Basses are the lowest sounding human voices, and they 

often play roles of wise and older characters in opera, like 

kings, emperors, or gods. They can also play profoundly 

evil characters, like Satan in Mephistopheles or Faust. The 

basso profundo is the lowest voice in singing, and is commonly heard in Russian opera. 

One of the most recognizable bass roles in opera is Leporello in W.A. Mozart’s 

Don Giovanni. 

Pol Plancon in the bass role of Ramfis in Verdi's Aida, 

cartoon by tenor Enrico Caruso 




7

A Sound Anatomy of Opera 

There are many different kinds of songs in opera. Performers may sing alone, in couples 

(duets), trios, or larger groups, and there are also moments when no one sings at all – and each 

composer develops his or her own preferred combinations of these options. The following are 

the major musical components of an opera: 

The Overture 

An opera usually begins with an orchestral piece of music called the overture, which functions 

as an introduction to the opera. The overture generally includes themes that will be heard 

throughout the opera, and can be anywhere from five to twenty-five minutes long. Before 1800, 

house lights were not dimmed while the overture played, and audiences would continue to 

talk, drink, and even play cards. This changed in the nineteenth century when the overture 

began to take its place as an integral part of the operatic performance. Usually, at the end of the 

overture, the curtain rises and the story of the opera unfolds through a series of scenes, which 

are usually organized into acts. 

Arias 

Italian for “air” or song. Arias are solos performed to the accompaniment of the orchestra. They 

allow the character to express his or her feelings and reflect on the events of the drama. The 

focus of an aria is emotions rather than actions, and provides an opportunity for the singer to 

demonstrate his or her vocal or artistic skill. Some of the most successful composers of arias, 

such as Mozart, Verdi and Puccini were able to achieve a remarkable balance between 

memorable melodies that perfectly suit the human voice, and making the music reflect the 

drama of the text. 

Recitatives 

Recitative is a type of singing unique to opera, and is used when characters are conversing, or 

introducing an aria. The text is delivered quickly in a musical way that imitates speech, and has 

a very limited melodic range. It has no recognizable melody and its rhythms follow those of the 

spoken word. Recitative is meant to carry the action forward and can be accompanied either by 

a full orchestra, or, as is often the case in opera written before 1800, by a harpsichord or 

keyboard instrument. 

Ensemble (“together”) 

In operas, ensemble singing is when two or more voices of different ranges perform together. 

These include duets, trios, quartets, quintets, and in one or two instances, even a sextet! In each 

of these, the way the composer blends the voices will depend on the dramatic requirements of 

the plot. For instance, in a duet where the characters singing are in love, a composer may show 

this musically by having each performer sing different music at different times, and gradually 

bring both lines of music together in harmony as the duet culminates. Conversely, if the 

characters are in conflict, their music might never be brought together. Georges Bizet used this 

technique in Carmen: if you listen to the duets sung by Carmen and Don José, you might notice 

that their musical lines are never completely blended, and this foreshadows their tragic ends. 




8

Chorus 

Most operas include music sung by a large group of singers (sometimes as many as 40 or more) 

called a chorus. The chorus appears on stage most often in crowd scenes. The chorus can 

provide a stunning contrast to solo or ensemble singing. In one opera by Benjamin Britten, the 

chorus is played by a single male and a single female (this is in the tradition of ancient Greek 

theatre). 

Orchestral Music 

The orchestra is an important part of any opera, and not only because it accompanies the 

singing and introduces the opera in the overture. The themes (both musical and emotional) of 

the opera can appear in orchestral introductions and conclusions to arias, recitatives, and 

choruses, but sometimes the orchestra becomes a character in the story, and has music to play 

by itself outside of the overture or introduction. One of the most famous of these instances is 

the intermezzo (“in the middle”) from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni (this can be found on 

youtube.com). In between the scenes of this one-act opera, the orchestra takes up the story 

through incredibly expressive and lyrical (singing-like) melodies, and through the voices of 

instruments rather than singers, brings to life the emotion of the characters, the foreboding 

conclusion, and also a sense of hope. 

The final (and finale) chorus of Falstaff from our 2007/2008 season 

Photo credit: Ellis Brothers Photography 




9

Activity: Teacher Resource 

Opera is Everywhere! 

Background: 

We don’t called it the greatest and grandest of art forms for nothing… the stories, characters 

and music from opera can be found in every corner of Western culture, from books and plays to 

hip-hop and cartoons. 

For students new to opera, a great starting point may be discovering all the places where they 

may have heard music from opera without even realizing it. 

Activity: 

Choose a famous piece of operatic music (a list is provided below for help), and go exploring 

with your students, to see where the themes, characters, and music appear in our culture today. 

Good places to start looking are musicals (Rent, for example, is based directly on La Boheme), 

cartoons (Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse were big opera fans), and movie scores, but the sky is 

the limit – you’ll be surprised where you find opera these days! Websites like Wikipedia, the 

Internet Movie Database, and “Opera goes to the Movies” are a great help, and can help to 

begin discussions about how music is performed in and outside of its original context. 

Some Questions to ask: What changes when opera is introduced in new places (like ads or 

movies)? What stays the same? Even the important question of genre: is it still opera if it’s used 

in a car commercial? And if not, what does it become? 

Below are some very famous operatic pieces that can easily be found in popular culture 

(and on youtube) today: 

“Largo al Factotum” from The Barber of Seville by Rossini 

“Habanera” from Carmen by Bizet 

The Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni 

“O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicci by Puccini 

“The Flower Duet” from Lakmé by Delibes 

“Un bel dì vedremo” from Madama Butterfly by Puccini 

“Non più andrai” from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart 

“La Donna é mobile” from Rigoletto by Verdi 

“Nessun Dorma” from Turandot by Verdi 

“The Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore by Verdi 

“Overture – part 2” from William Tell by Rossini 




10


Teacher Resource 

Opera is Storytelling! 

Background: 

One of the most important things about going to see an opera, or any live theatrical 

performance, is that each performance is different, even within the run of the same 

show: nothing is every exactly the same twice. The conductor might set a faster or 

slower tempo, the actors might take more time in moments that worked well or not well 

enough the night before, a bat might fly into the auditorium (this actually happened in 

1966 during an Edmonton Opera performance of La Bohème): part of the magic of 

theatre is that only the performers on stage and the people 

there that night will ever be a part of that experience. 

Even though the music may have been written a long time 

ago, and the stories can often be much, much older again, each 

time an opera is performed it’s a new telling, and a new 

experience. Think back to when you had bed-time stories. 

Did one person tell it differently than the other? Did a 

babysitter use special voices for different characters, or maybe 

read too slowly, not pausing in the right places? 

Activity: Selective Storytelling 

Jeff Haslam and Renée Brad in H.M.S. Pinafore. Mr. Haslam 

got so many laughs in “When I was a Lad” that he got more 

and more silly with it each night – on closing night it was much 

longer than it was at the dress rehearsal! 

Photo Credit: Ellis Brothers Photography 

To illustrate the uniqueness of each operatic telling, create a simple plotline as a class – 

it can be a fairytale or mystery, or a person or event from a particular time in history – 

perhaps something that fits into other units coming up or just past. 

Then separate into partners or groups, and have students flesh out the plot line either 

through a straight retelling, through acting out the story, or creating a design or 

diorama to express the feelings of a particular scene. Compare choices made by 

different groups – who focused on characterization, on a particular tension, or on the 

imagery and how does this change the feeling of the story? 




11

Student Handout: Selective Storytelling 

Story ________________________________________ 

Group Focus Result 




12

Section 2: Der fliegende Holländer or The Flying Dutchman 

Music and Libretto by Richard Wagner 

Sung in German with English Supertitles 




13


Music and Libretto by Richard Wagner 

Premiered January 2, 1843 in Dresden 

Conductor 

Director 

John Keenan 

Brian Deedrick 

The Cast 

The Dutchman 

Senta 

Daland 

Eric 

Mary 

Steersman 

Jason Howard 

Susan Marie Pierson 

Marc Embree 

Marc Beaton 

Emilia Boteva 

Scott Scully 

The Edmonton Opera Chorus as Sailors, Spinners and Townsfolk 

and 

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra 

Lighting Designer 

Set and Costumes Designed by 

Elizabeth Asselstine 

Allen Moyer 

Original Production Conceived and Directed by Christopher Alden 

Education Dress Rehearsal 

October 23, 2008 at 7:00 pm 

Performances 

October 25, 28, 30, 2008 at 7:30 pm 

The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium 

Sung in German with English Supertitles 




14

Synopsis: The Flying Dutchman 

Traditional Setting: 18 th Century, Norwegian Coast and fishing village 

(please note that this production does not follow the traditional setting) 

Act I 

Captain Daland’s ship, caught in a storm, must take shelter in a cove seven miles away 

from its home port. The seas grow rough and the sky darkens as a ghostly ship arrives 

in the cove. The captain of the ship, the Flying Dutchman, disembarks, lamenting his 

cruel fate. He is cursed because he once vowed to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, 

even it took him forever, and for his pride was condemned him to sail the ocean until 

Judgment Day. He may only leave the ship once every seven years to look for a wife 

who will be faithful to him and only through her love can he find salvation. 

The Dutchman offers the Captain Daland jewels in exchange for one night’s lodging, 

and says that the chest is only a small portion of the treasure aboard his ship. He also 

asks Daland if he has a daughter. When Daland responds that he does, the Dutchman 

immediately asks for her hand in marriage. He offers the Captain all the treasure on his 

ship in exchange. Daland agrees and promises that Senta, his daughter, will be a 

faithful wife for all eternity. The Dutchman then follows Daland to his home port. 

Captain Daland meets the Dutchman 

Image from http://art-desy.com/classical.html 

Act II 

The village women are spinning wool in a factory. They tease Senta about her 

obsession with a portrait of the Dutchman. They don’t understand why she ignores her 

devoted suitor, Erik. She pays no attention and prays that she will be the one to save 

the Dutchman from his cursed wandering. After the women leave, Erik begs Senta to 

talk to her father about his worthiness to be her husband. He notices that she is staring 




15

at the portrait and he tells her of his recent dream, in which she embraced the 

Dutchman and sailed away with him. Senta believes this to be a sign and exclaims it is 

her dream, too. Erik leaves in despair but the next moment, Daland appears with the 

Dutchman. Senta recognizes him and vows to be faithful to him. Daland, Senta and the 

Dutchman rejoice in the hope brought by true love. 

At the harbour, the villagers celebrate the sailors’ return. They invite the sailors from a 

strange ship to join their festivities. As the rough waves surround the ship, they think 

that the sailors on board are dead. They all flee in terror. Senta rushes in, pursued by 

Erik, who now knows of her intention to marry the Dutchman. Erik reminds her of the 

love she has vowed to him. On hearing this, the Dutchman believes he has been 

betrayed, and he attempts to leave. Senta sees this, and desperately pledges her eternal 

love to the Dutchman, thereby breaking his curse and freeing the lovers to be together 

at last. 

A drawing of the Flying Dutchman pulling 

alongside another ship 

Image from http://art-desy.com/classical.html 




16

The Story Behind the Story 

Like most great operas, The Flying Dutchman takes its story from somewhere else. In 

this case, many somewhere elses! If you’ve seen The Pirates of the Caribbean movies with 

Johnny Depp, you will have heard of the Dutchman and his cursed ship. The story is 

part myth, part history, part biblical parable, so what follows are only a few 

incarnations of a very popular story. 

According to folklore, the Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home and 

must sail forever. Intriguingly, there is some confusion as to whether Flying Dutchman is 

the name of the ship or the captain. Like most legends, different tellings contradict each 

other and evolve over time. Here are a few early versions: 

• The German version names Captain Falkenburg as the Dutchman, and states that 

in a bet with the Devil, Falkenburg threw the dice and lost his soul, thereby being 

condemned to sail the seas for all eternity. 

• In the British telling, a Dutch vessel was attempting to navigate the Cape of 

Good Hope when a terrible storm threatened to sink the ship. The Captain (in 

this case Hendrik van der Decken) refused to return to port, and apparently 

shouted, “May I be eternally damned if I do [return to port], though I should 

beat about here till the day of Judgment” (Blackwood’s Magazine May 1821), and 

he was cursed by the Devil to do just that. 

• According to still other sources, the 17 th century Dutch Captain Bernard Fokke is 

the model for the legendary ghost. Fokke was known for the uncannily fast trips 

he made from Holland to Java, and he was suspected of having made a deal with 

the Devil in order to achieve his quick trips. 

Even Wagner’s sources are muddled: in one instance he claimed to be inspired by a 

stormy sea voyage he took in 1839, but in his autobiography he claims to have taken the 

story from Heinrich Heine’s The Memoirs of Mister Schnabelewopski (or Aus den Memoiren 

des Herrn von Schnabelewopski). This was a multi-layered fictional memoir in which a 

young Polish man recalls his life in Germany and the Netherlands. In the course of the 

story, the young man sees a play about the Dutchman, which some scholars believe was 

actually Edward Fitzball’s 1826 play, The Flying Dutchman. Heine also introduces the 

“Mrs. Dutchman” character, whose love would save the Dutchman from his curse. 




17

The Dutchman Adapts! 

The legend of the Dutchman has been a source of artistic inspiration for hundreds of 

years, and the fun certainly didn’t stop with the decline of the British sea-trading 

culture in the early 20 th Century. Here is a short list of some more notable appearances 

by the Dutchman in modern adaptations and popular culture: 

• Several episodes of the TV series The Twilight Zone 

• Jethro Tull’s 1979 song called “The Flying Dutchman” 

• Amiri Baraka’s play, entitled Dutchman. 

• Tori Amos’ song “Flying Dutchman” was a B-Side release 

Perhaps the most popular recent incarnation of the Dutchman has been Disney’s recent 

Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, which features the ship as a cursed vessel that slowly 

assimilates sailors into its structure, and is captained by Davy Jones. 

An image of Davy Jones on The Flying Dutchman from the Disney movie trilogy 

Pirates of the Caribbean (from Wikipedia.org) 




18


Activities: Legendary Legends 

The story of the Flying Dutchman has been told differently depending on who is doing the 

telling, and what lesson (if any) that speaker is trying to impart upon the audience. This 

flexibility is an important aspect of legends. 

Activity #1 

Brainstorm legends (both contemporary and classical) in groups or as a class. Why do 

we have legends? As a class, develop a working definition of “legends.” 

Activity #2 Re-telling The Flying Dutchman 

Wagner’s opera is only one adaptation of the Flying Dutchman story. Musicians, 

artists, movie producers, and writers frequently rework folklore, history, and other texts 

to suit their own needs. Have students write their own legend or retell one with a 

particular lesson or theme in mind. 

Activity #3 Sea-inspired stories 

Oceans and seas have long inspired music, stories, and visual art throughout the world. 

Stories such as the long journey of Odysseus and Jason’s hunt for the Golden Fleece are 

ancient examples of sea-stories, but even in the 20 th century the mysteries and events of 

the sea captivate our imagination. Research either a legend (like those mentioned 

above) or an historical event (such as the sinking of the Titanic or the lost ships of the 

Bermuda Triangle) as a class or in groups. What are the facts and how do they compare 

with public perception? How are they represented artistically? Why is the sea such a 

good place to blend fact and fiction? 




19


The Setting 

Background: The traditional setting for The Flying Dutchman is a fishing village in the early 18 th 

century. This was a time when many European countries’ wealth depended on their maritime 

trading, and thus the sea was a natural focus for art and literature in that period. This 

production is not set traditionally, but in a dream-world. 

Much like Shakespeare’s plays have been set in new places in films like Baz Luhrman’s William 

Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet and Michael Almereyda's New York Hamlet, operas can be set in 

periods other than that for which they were originally written. New settings take the focus, 

themes, and a particular reading from the original and explore those in a different place and 

time, thus inviting audiences to consider a work in new ways. 

This production is designed to be a world unto itself, and the sets, costumes, and makeup will 

create a dream-like world, as did German Expressionist film makers in the early 1920’s. David 

Stabler’s preview for this production of The Flying Dutchman (last presented in 2007) describes 

the set: “the curtain will rise on a big, tilted box made of weathered planks, resting on what 

looks like a rotted wharf … The tilted box – society is askew – summons up a seaside 

community as a bastion of conformity that ostracizes the sailor, who is doomed to sail the seas 

forever.” The women’s spinning feels like a factory, taking on a “creepy, fascist, conformist 

profile” according to Christopher Alden, the director who conceived the production (The 

Oregonian March 22, 2007). 

Activity: New setting, New staging, Same Story? 

Great works by masters like Wagner and Shakespeare (among others!) are frequently “re-set” in 

new productions. As a class, examine how setting (or “re-setting”) plays, operas, books and 

movies works. 

#1 Brainstorm new settings or re-stagings of works that you know (plays, books, movies). 

Where are they originally set and where are they set in the “re-setting”? 

#2 Identify some decisions faced in this process: what kinds of references are made to the 

original? How close does the story stay to the original? What is the difference between a resetting 

or re-staging and an adaptation? 

#3 Evaluation: Examine some “re-set” or re-staged works in comparison with their “originals,” 

(text or production), determine which seem the most successful, and discuss why. 

#4 Creation: Taking a story already studied or known in class, and brainstorm other settings for 

it. Why do some settings work more than others? How do they contribute to the experience? 




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What is Expressionism? 

Generally speaking, “Expressionist” refers to art that 

portrays extreme emotion. Although there is no 

particular “School of Expressionism,” the term is most 

frequently used in relation to German artists of the late 

19 th and early 20 th century, whose art focuses on an 

“inner vision” rather than realistic portrayal. 

Expressionism was a revolt against naturalism and 

Expressionist artists like Edward Munsch created art 

that focused not on realistic portrayal, but a visual 

expression of emotions. 

What is German Expressionist 

Cinema? 

Expressionist Cinema in Germany was a kind of art-film 

(as opposed to Hollywood films of the same era) that 

echoed Expressionist art. The Expressionist films 

“The Scream” by Edward Munsch (1893) is a 

hallmark work of Expressionism. 

Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism 

created in Germany from 1913 until about 1930 (also sometimes called Weimar Cinema, after 

the Weimar Republic that governed Germany before the rise of Nationalist Socialism) are 

distinguished by the extraordinary and skewed dimensions of the sets, the thick, frozen makeup 

of the performers, and the low lighting. 

Two of the most well-known films from this period are Nosferatu 

(1922) and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919). While it is debatable if 

Nosferatu actually qualifies as an Expressionist work, the film 

certainly encapsulates the feeling of terror (and is known for singlehandedly 

introducing “vampires can be killed by sunlight” into the 

vampire oeuvre). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari makes extensive use of 

extreme angles and altered spatial relationships to portray visually 

the emotional and psychological extremes experienced by the 

characters. The angles and lighting of Weimar Cinema were 

influential in the development of film (especially the horror genre) 

in America, in part because so many film makers left Germany for 

Hollywood before the Nazis came to power in 1936. 

A still from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. 

Image from Encyclopedia Britannica Online 




21

Biography: Richard Wagner 

1813-1883 

Wagner is in many ways the “man behind the music” in the common conceptions of 

opera -- The famous opera-caricature of a large woman with blonde braids and horns 

on her head actually comes from Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The Canadian Opera Company’s 

biography of Wagner calls him “an arrogant megalomaniac of a genius” who “forever 

changed the course of musical composition.” His operatic work demonstrates some of 

the most pure examples of through-composed music, and he is the inventor of the 

leitmotif (see “Leitmotifs and the Composers Who Love them” for more information on 

these). 

Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig. Legally he was born to Friedrich 

Wagner and his wife Johanna, although many musicologists believe that his father was 

actually Ludwig Geyer, the painter who was Johanna’s second husband. Early on, the 

young composer was greatly influenced by the symphonic writings of Beethoven and 

considered them the reason he devoted himself to music as a career. He was also 

deeply moved by the great dramatic soprano Wilhemine Schröder-Devrient, whom he 

heard sing the title role in Fidelio in 1829; this experience helped him to understand the 

great power and potential of the fusion of word and music. 

Wagner had six months of formal music education from Theodor Weinlig in Leipzig, 

during which he worked on a symphony that was well-received in both Leipzig and 

Prague. He began work on an opera called Die Hochzeit, but left it unfinished to 




22

complete the operatic work Die Feen, which was not performed until 5 years after the 

composer’s death. Wagner undertook a series of conducting posts with small opera 

companies, where he built the instinct and skills which would forge his vision of 

musical drama. In 1839, he married Minna Planer – and their relationship was 

apparently very stormy. 

Wagner struggled to establish himself in Paris. Despite letters of support from famous 

composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, the sketches for both Rienzi, and Das Liebesverbot were 

rejected. Wagner turned to The Flying Dutchman and completed it in 1841. In 1842 

Rienzi opened in Dresden to a receptive audience, and the following year The Flying 

Dutchman met with acclaim in the same city. Wagner became Kappellmeister (music 

director) of the Dresden Opera, and in the five years he was there he completed 

Tannhäuser and Logengrin. However, Lohengrin was rejected by Dresden Opera and, in 

anger, Wagner turned to political revolution and was forced to flee back to Paris. 

During his thirteen years of exile, Lohengrin was presented in Weimar, Germany. 

Eventually, both Tannhäuser and Lohengrin were embraced by German audiences. 

In 1864, the newly-crowned King Ludwig II became the composer’s benefactor. 

Wagner produced Tristan and Isolde, Meistersinger, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre 

between 1865 and 1870. Wagner continued to receive financial support from King 

Ludwig, and when his first wife, Minna, died in 1866, Wagner married Franz Liszt’s 

daughter, Cosima. 

The final years of Wagner’s life were dedicated to completing what is perhaps the 

largest musical project in history: The Ring. His concept was immense: an orchestral, 

vocal and theatrical portrayal of the struggle between gods and men for control of the 

earth. This mythological drama would be staged over consecutive days in a series of 

four sequential operas: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. To 

house his creation, Wagner designed and built an operatic facility at Bayreuth. When 

the theater opened for the first full performance of the The Ring cycle on August 13, 

1876, the event was attended by composers Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Grieg, Gounod 

and Liszt (among all the other patrons!). 

Wagner died suddenly of heart disease in 1883, having been seriously debilitated by his 

efforts at premiering his final work, Parsifal. He was buried in the garden of his home 

Wahnfried, at Bayreuth, to the music of “Siegfried’s Death.” 

-courtesy of Arizona Opera 




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Background: Wagner in Historical Perspective 

Wagner lived and worked in a period of massive political upheaval in Europe, which 

may account for some of the darkness in his work. What else happened in his lifetime? 

What was happening in Canada? 

World Events 

1821 The first British report of a Flying 

Dutchman sighting 

1846 the potato famine in Ireland 

leads to massive Irish emigration to 

Canada, and changes the face of 

demographics in the country as poor 

and Catholic Irish begin to 

outnumber the wealthy Protestants 

who had previously emigrated. 

1848 Revolution sweeps through 

Europe, resulting in the unification of 

both Germany and Italy 

Canadian Events 

1821 The Hudson’s Bay and Northwest 

trading companies merged, ending a 

long-standing rivalry for resources and 

land in Canada. 

1841 saw the first Parliament of 

Canada meet in Kingston 

1843 Grace Marks was convicted of 

murder in Ontario in a hugely 

controversial case (many thought she 

was an unwitting accomplice and she 

was later exonerated). Her story is 

the source for Margaret Atwood’s 

novel Alias Grace. 

Activity: Compare and contrast the life and works of Wagner and a contemporary 

musician, politician, or historical figure, either in Canada or elsewhere in the world. 

How can their influence be seen in the 20 th century? Today? 




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Background: Leitmotif and the Composers Who Love Them 

Long before the signature entrances of Indiana Jones, Jaws, and Darth Vader, there was 

music that reminded audiences of a particular character, emotion, or theme. Short, 

recurring motifs (from the French “motive” and translating as “short theme”) in 

orchestral music began appearing in the 1700’s, although not in any extensive or 

systematic way. Although these musical statements were usually short melodies, they 

could be particular chord progressions or as simple as particular repeated rhythms. 

Composers Carl Maria von Weber and Beethoven, among others, used this technique 

(think of the opening movement in Beethoven’s fifth symphony – Beethoven’s 

biographer suggested that the motif represents “fate knocking at the door.”) 

The idea of a musical statement representing a particular feeling or theme was also used 

by Hector Berlioz in his Symphonie Fantastique, wherein the recurring motif represents 

the love of the central characters, even though there are no singers on stage 

representing those lovers. Berlioz called this idea the idée fixe. 

While this idea had been around for a number of years before Richard Wagner arrived 

on the scene, it is he who is most often associated with the term leitmotif (loosely 

translated meaning “leading motif”). He used leitmotif extensively in his music, 

especially his operas and it is from this usage that they have become so intrinsically 

linked to his name. He used them to represent characters, ideas, thoughts and feelings 

in his work, and in his longest work, Der Ring des Nibelungen (or the Ring Cycle), there 

are dozens of motifs! 

Since Wagner, many other composers have used this technique in their works: Sergei 

Prokofiev uses it in Peter and the Wolf, Verdi gave his title character one in Aida, and 

stirred audiences with the music threatening the entrance of the “bad guy” Scarpia in 

Tosca. Today, leitmotifs appear constantly in movies and plays, and the term is even 

used in literary studies! 

While Wagner never named his leitmotifs, one of his students went to the trouble of 

identifying in some of his works all the motifs and naming each one after its idea or 

them, such as the “fate motif.” There are several important leitmotifs in the Flying 

Dutchman, and we have reproduced some of them on the following page. 




25


Leitmotifs from The Flying Dutchman 

Please note: Wagner never titled his leitmotifs; the names below are included only to assist with classroom 

identification and discussion. 

Dutchman 

Wanderer 

Redemption / Senta’s theme 

Fate 

All of these motifs appear in the Overture to The Flying Dutchman, which can be streamed from 

www.edmontonopera.com. 




26


What’s your Theme Song? 

Background: 

Wagner’s use of leitmotifs are in the same vein as popular musical themes in plays and 

movies today. Indiana Jones and Darth Vader always get their own refrain played 

when they are doing something particularly “them” – For example when “Indy” is 

escaping from an impossible situation, or whenever Vader marches in. In these cases, 

the music reminds the audience about something important in the story (in the case of 

Vader’s entry it usually means bad news for whoever is in the room). These are easily 

identifiable examples of leitmotif, and clearly demonstrate how it is not just the title 

track from the soundtrack that makes the theme, but something musical that speaks to 

the character that makes this a leitmotif. 

Activity: 

Play some popular theme songs (“Jaws”, “Darth Vader’s March,” “Indiana Jones” etc.) 

and discuss with students what they’re hearing and why it reminds them of the 

character or idea. For music students, this is an opportunity to discuss how, in Western 

music, ascending chord progressions can represent inspiration or triumph (among other 

feelings) and how descending progressions and minor keys remind us of sadness or can 

give us a sense of foreboding (Scarpia’s theme from Tosca is a great example of this). Of 

course, in non-Western cultures and musical traditions, these musical “clues” may 

signify something very different. 

Discuss with students which aspects of each theme speak to them, and why (or why 

not) they think the music works as part of the character, idea, or story it is meant to 

represent. 

Then pick your own! This can be done as a class, or individuals, depending on the level 

of students. Identify a theme, character, idea, or person from, history, popular culture, 

or another class unit, and either compose a theme on instruments available in the 

classroom, or choose one from other music studied. Discuss what elements are 

important to represent, and how each musical choice answers to those needs. 




27


Activity: Leitmotif Bingo 

Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman is a through-composed opera, which means that 

although there are many important musical moments, there are very few excerptable 

(completely distinct) arias or particular songs. This activity is designed to help student 

listen closely for particular musical elements. 

Play or photocopy the musical motifs from earlier in this guide. Introduce the students 

to these motifs, even perhaps have them sing them back to you, and discuss what kinds 

of emotions or feelings they seem to evoke. Then play the overture from the Flying 

Dutchman (this can be streamed from www.edmontonopera.com) and challenge the 

students to record how the music of the motif represents the Dutchman, Senta (and 

therefore redemption), Wandering, and Fate. This activity would also work well as a 

group activity, with each student listening for only one motif. Another alternative 

would be to have students listen for one of the motifs and stand up or raise their hands 

when they hear “their” motif. 

An activity handout is available on the following page. 




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Leitmotif Bingo: The Flying Dutchman 

Learn each of the following motifs separately – through listening, playing, or singing – 

and then listen to the overture of The Flying Dutchman, and try to identify when each 

theme occurs (it’s more than once!) What do you notice about each motif? How do they 

sound different? What instruments play them? 

Wanderer motif 

Listening Reflections: 

Fate motif 


Redemption motif 


Dutchman motif 





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Activity: Pre-Performance Discussion Questions 

#1 Opera perceptions: What do students think of when they think “opera”? What expectations 

do they have of the performance? 

#2 How is opera different from other theatrical and musical performances? What is the 

difference between a “musical”, an operetta, and an opera? Are there exceptions to the 

definitions? 

#3 How is The Flying Dutchman different from other operas that students have seen or studied? 

What are some of Wagner’s important contributions to the world of opera? 

#4 Examine written versions of The Flying Dutchman or other operas based on books or plays, 

and discuss the process of adaptation. What gets left out? What is added, and how does that 

change to meaning or message of the story? 

Activity: Post-Performance Discussion Questions and Activities 

#1 What did you think of the costumes? The lighting? The sets? 

#2 Write to one of the characters, offering advice or asking them questions about their decisions 

and actions. 

#3 What is the contemporary name for the Cape of Good Hope? Where is it? When was it first 

circumnavigated? 

#4 Read a biography of Richard Wagner. How did The Flying Dutchman change his life? How 

did politics affect his creative work? 

#5 According to Wagnerians, and Wagner himself, the Dutchman is an autobiographical sketch. 

Is there a character in a story who might resemble a sketch of you? Which one and why? 

#6 “Redemption through love” is an important theme for Wagner. Where else do we find this 

theme in literature or music? Create a story of your own based on this theme. 

#7 This production was rooted in German Expressionist cinema. Compare it to a film like The 

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. 




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Sources 

Websites 

www.arizonaopera.com 

Online Encyclopedia Britannica 

www.blog.oreganlive.com 

www.metropolitanopera.com 

www.virginiaopera.com 

www.wikipedia.org 

Books 

Forman, Denis Sir. A Night at the Opera. New York: Modern Library, 1998. 

Grout, Donald Jay. A Short History of Opera. New York: Columbia UP, 1988. 

Hutcheon, Linda and Michaerl Hutcheon. Opera: Desire, Disease, Death. Lincoln: 

Nebraska UP, 1996. 

Parkinson, David. History of Film. New York, Thames and Hudson, 1995. 

Sadie, Stanley. The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera. New York: Billboard Books, 

2004. 

Sklar, Robert. A World History of Film. New York: Abrams, 2002. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact Edmonton Opera for more 

resources or for help with specific questions or topics. 

We will do our best to help! 




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Write to us! 

Student feedback is a very important part of our 

Education Program, and we welcome any student 

assignments, projects, letters that you would like to share 

with us. 

Please send student feedback 

to Brianna Wells at: 

Edmonton Opera 

9720 102 Ave 

Edmonton, AB T5J 4B2 

communication@edmontonopera.com 

Thanks! 




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Education Guide The Flying Dutchman by ... - Edmonton Opera

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