Sunday Classics: Father's Day special -- Wagner's Daland usually knows better than to trust in the wind

DALAND: [coming down from the cliff]:
No doubt! Seven miles away
the storm has driven us from safe port.
So near our goal after a long voyage,
this trick was saved up for me!
STEERSMAN [on board, shouting through cupped hands]:
Ho! Captain!
DALAND: On board with you -- how goes it?
STEERSMAN [as before]: Good, captain!
We have firm grounding.
DALAND: It's Sandwike! I know the bay well.
[0:53] Damn! I already saw my house on the shore.
Senta, my child, I imagined myself already embracing.
Then came this blast from the depths of hell.
Who trusts in wind trusts in Satan's mercy.
Who trusts in wind trusts in Satan's mercy,
trusts in Satan's mercy.
[He goes on board the ship.]
There's no help for it! Patience! The storm is abating;
so fierce a storm couldn't last long.
[On board] Hey, lads! Your watch was long --
to rest then! I'm not concerned anymore.
[The sailors go below deck on the ship.]
Now, steersman, will you take the watch for me?
There's no danger, but it's good if you keep watch.
STEERSMAN: Be without worry! Sleep peacefully, captain!
[DALAND goes into his cabin. The STEERSMAN is alone on deck. The storm has abated somewhat and returns only at sporadic intervals. The waves are still rough on the open sea. The STEERSMAN makes his round once more, then sits down near the rudder. He yawns, then rouses himself as sleep comes over him.]

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Daland; Harald Ek (t), Steersman; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded live, 1971

by Ken

In Friday night's preview we met the Norwegian sea captain Daland in happy homecoming mode, in Act II of The Flying Dutchman -- not just happy to be returning to his home and his beloved daugher Senta from an unusually perilous voyage with life and limbs intact, but returning in the company of a stranger, met under extraordinary circumstances, who is the best son-in-law material fate could have sent his way.

Now we're returning, not quite to Act I curtain rise (we'll get there in a moment), but to the brush with death, for him and his crew, that Daland has just survived thanks to a combination of luck and his own nautical skill. With his ship becalmed but safe just off the coast, not far from home, he berates himself for having, incredibly foolishly, let slip his guard against the vagaries of fate. The section we're especially concerned with here is the highlighted one, where for the first time he indulges in sustained singing, when he recalls that literally within sight of home, already imagining himself there, with Senta in his arms, he was beset by a violent storm outburst that caught him almost tragically unprepared.

This extraordinary little set piece he sings is at once one of the most vivid examples I know of the way music, and in particular vocal music, can be used to create character and dramatic urgency and one of the most challenging but potentially rewarding pieces of vocal writing I know. And I've never heard anyone do it fuller justice than Karl Ridderbusch in this live performance from the 1971 Bayreuth Festival.

He sings high, he sings low; he sings with unmatched power and unrivaled delicacy; he attacks every pitch dead-on while binding phrases with ravishing tone and dramatic sweep. Above all he really does sing every note, filling out each syllable with the ravishing sound of a great bass voice under complete, sculpting phrases with seemingly effortless control.

To be perhaps a little clearer, I though we'd listen to this amazing scene chunk again, in an assortment of performances that I consider admirable in many respects (much better than the average one encounters; it would be too easy to make the case with that sort of performance), and then listen to Ridderbusch's again.

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman: Act I, Daland, "Kein Zweifel! Sieben Meilen fort" ("No doubt! Seven miles away")


Josef Greindl (bs), Daland; Ernst Häfliger (t), Steersman; RIAS Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Ferenc Fricsay, cond. DG, recorded 1952

Gottlob Frick (bs), Daland; Staatskapelle Berlin, Franz Konwitschny, cond. EMI-Deutsche Schallplatten, recorded 1959

Matti Salminen (bs), Daland; Graham Clark (t), Steersman; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Woldemar Nelsson, cond. Philips, recorded live, 1985

Josef Greindl, crafty artist though he was (he seems to have been a great favorite of many conductors, including one of the stature of Wilhelm Furtwängler), had even in his "prime" a voice that one could most politely describe as, um, not especially attractive. In a May 1993 obituary in the Independent Elizabeth Forbes, who heard him as Sarastro in Mozart's Magic Flute at Salzburg in 1951 and the next year as Hagen in Wagner's Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth and then at Covent Garden in roles including Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger and Rocco in Beethoven's Fidelio, wrote that his "power of characterisation easily compensated for a certain lack of intrinsic beauty in his black-toned voice." "A certain lack of intrinsic beauty" -- I like that!

Gottlob Frick and Matti Salminen, meanwhile, working with voices that have a good deal more attractiveness to them, don't have anything like Ridderbusch's vocal command. Frick and conductor Franz Konwitschny don't muster anything like the dramatic momentum of Ridderbusch and Karl Böhm, while Salminen's somewhat odd vocal mechanics remain a distraction.

Here are Ridderbusch and Böhm again:


Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Daland; Harald Ek (t), Steersman; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded live, 1971


I THOUGHT WE'D HEAR DALAND'S ACT II SONG AGAIN,
BUT THIS TIME WITH A BIT MORE CONTEXT-SETTING

Daland is often thought of as a stock comic figure, the avaricious father who cares about nothing except finding a rich husband for his daughter. I suppose this is okay for the many people who really think of art as a way of filling time with nonsense that makes them even stupider and less aware of the world around them (a function now filled so admirably by so-called reality TV, which mimics reality while having at heart nothing to do with it). Never mind how much care and genius Wagner lavished in making Daland something way more interesting.

It is, to digress, much the same misunderstanding traditionally applied to the character of Father Rocco in Beethoven's Fidelio. In the opening scene of Act I, he tries to caution his daughter, Marzelline, against the dangers of being guided by your heart alone in the matter of mating. I couldn't resist assembling a roster of notable recorded Roccos. (I should note that we're hearing Ludwig Weber -- a wildly inconsistent singer, judging by his live performance, at the age of 58!)

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio, Op. 72: Act I, Aria, Rocco, "Hat man nicht auch Gold beineben ("If you don't have money too")

ROCCO: If you don't have money too,
you cannot be really happy;
life drags sadly by,
many an anxiety sets in.
But when it clinks and rolls in your pockets,
fate is then your prisoner,
and money will bring you power and love
and satisfy your wildest dreams.
Luck, like a servant, works for wages;
it's a lovely thng, is money,
it's a precious thing, is money.

If you add nothing to nothing
the total is and stays small;
if you find only love at mealtimes,
you'll be hungry afterwards.
Then let fortune smile kindly upon you,
and bless and guide your efforts;
your sweetheart in your arms,
money in your purse,
so may you live many years.
Luck, like a servant, works for wages;
it's a mighty thing, s money.

-- English translation by William Mann

Alexander Kipnis (bs), Rocco; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Bruno Walter, cond. Live performance, Feb. 22, 1941

Ludwig Weber (bs), Rocco; RAI Symphony Orchestra, Rome, Eugen Jochum, cond. Broadcast performance, Dec. 22, 1957

Gottlob Frick (bs), Rocco; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Otto Klemperer, cond. Testament, recorded live, Feb. 24, 1961

Kurt Moll (bs), Rocco; Staatskapelle Dresden, Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips, recorded November 1989

René Pape (bs), Rocco; Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded May-June 1999

Now here's Karl Ridderbusch, once again (it seems to me) mopping up the considerable competition.


Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Rocco; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. EMI, recorded 1970

Note that Rocco isn't saying Marzelline should marry only for money, just that it's well to have it "auch," "also." And what father, especially a single father of a lone daughter, would think otherwise? As Daland's scramble for survival, braving fate on the high seas, reminds us, life is tough.

That said, I think we're ready to return to Daland's aria, only this time we'll add the quite short chunk of scene that precedes it. One piece of information we need to add here is that Senta is Scandinavia's leading groupie of the Flying Dutchman, the legendary sea captain doomed to ply the seas until he finds a redeeming love. And while Daland may think of his guest as simply another sailor like himself, he is in fact the flesh-and-blood Flying Dutchman.

Act II, Scene and Aria, Daland, "Mein Kind, du siehst mich auf der Schwelle" . . . "Mögst du, mein Kind, dem fremden Mann Willkommen heissen?" ("My child, you see me on the threshhold" . . . "Would you, my child, bid this stranger welcome?")

A large room in DALAND's house. SENTA is sunk in silent meditation, her eyes fixed on her portrait of the legendary Flying Dutchman.

DALAD and the DUTCHMAN enter. SENTA's gaze sweeps from the portrait to the DUTCHMAN. She utters a loud cry of astonishment and remains as if spellbound, without taking her eyes off him. The DUTCHMAN comes slowly forward.

DALAND [having remained standing at the door, gradually approaches SENTA]: My child, you see me on the threshhold . . .
What! No embrace? No kiss?
You stand rooted to the spot.
Senta, do I deserve such a greeting?
SENTA [as DALAND comes up to her, she grasps his hand]: God give you greeting!
[Drawing him closer to her] Father, say,
who is this stranger?
DALAND [smiling]: Do you press me?

Would you, my child, bid this stranger welcome?
A sailor is he, like me; he asks our hospitality.
Long without homeland, always on far, long journeys,
in foreign lands he has gained great wealth.
Banished from his fatherland,
for a home he will pay richly.
Say, Senta, would it displease you
if this stranger stays with us?
[SENTA nods her approval. DALAND turns to the DUTCHMAN.]
Say, did I praise her too much?
You see her yourself -- does she please you?
Should I let my praises yet overflow?
Admit, she is an ornament to her sex.
[The DUTCHMAN makes a gesture of approval.]
Would you, my child, show yourself well-disposed to this man?
He also asks for the beautiful gift of your heart.
If you give him your hand, you are to call him bridegroom.
If you heed your father, tomorrow he'll be your husband.
[SENTA makes a convulsive, painful movement. DALAND produces some jewelry and shows it to his daughter.]
See this ring, see these bracelets!
What he owns makes this meager.
Mustn't you, dear child, long for it?
It's yours if you exchange rings.
[SENTA, without paying any attention to him, doesn't take her eyes off the DUTCHMAN, who likewise, without listening to DALAND, is absorbed in contemplating her. DALAND becomes aware of this; he looks at them both.]
But neither speaks . . . Am I not wanted here?
So it is! I'd best leave them alone.
[To SENTA] May you win this noble man!
Believe me, such look won't happen again.
[To the DUTCHMAN] Stay here alone! I'll go away.
Believe me, however beautiful, she is that faithful.
[He goes out slowly, watching them both with pleased surprise. SENTA and the DUTCHMAN are alone. Long pause.]

Josef Greindl (bs), Daland; Annelies Kupper (s), Senta; RIAS Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Ferenc Fricsay, cond. DG, recorded 1952

Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Daland; Gwyneth Jones (s), Senta; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded live, 1971

Kurt Moll (bs), Daland; Dunja Vejzovic (s), Senta; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. EMI, recorded 1981-83

Matti Salminen (bs), Daland; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Woldemar Nelsson, cond. Philips, recorded live, 1985


FINALLY, LET'S RETURN TO THE BEGINNING AND HEAR
THE WHOLE OPENING SCENE OF THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

And I want to start with three performances notable among other things for having my favorite incarnations of the small but important role of Daland's steersman. The Steersman's song is on separate tracks because I originally made separate files of them, so you'll have to click again to hear Ernst Häfliger (a tenor we've heard in a number of assignments, including Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte, which he sang in the to-me-legendary Jochum-DG recording), Fritz Wunderlich (singing it better than I expect ever to hear it sung again), and Harald Ek, who perhaps sounds most like a sailor singing, as opposed to a balladeer who has somehow found his way onto Daland's ship.

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman: Overture and Opening Scene . . . Steersman's Song

A steep, rocky shore. The sea occupies the greater part of the stage; a wide view over it.

DALAND's ship has just cast anchor near the shore; the sailors are noisily occupied in furling the sails, casting ropes, etc. DALAND has gone ashore; he climbs a cliff and looks landwards to get his bearings.

SAILORS [at work]: Hoyoye! Hoyoye! Halloyo!
DALAND [coming down from the cliff]: No doubt! Seven miles away
the storm has driven us from safe port.
So near our goal after a long voyage,
this trick was saved up for me!
STEERSMAN [on board, shouting through cupped hands]:
Ho! Captain!
DALAND: On board with you -- how goes it?
STEERSMAN [as before]: Good, captain!
We have firm grounding.
DALAND: It's Sandwike! I know the bay well.
Damn! I already saw my house on the shore.
Senta, my child, I imagined myself already embracing.
Then came this blast from the depths of hell.
Who trusts in wind trusts in Satan's mercy.
Who trusts in wind trusts in Satan's mercy,
trusts in Satan's mercy.
[He goes on board the ship.]
There's no help for it! Patience! The storm is abating;
so fierce a storm couldn't last long.
[On board] Hey, lads! Your watch was long --
to rest then! I'm not concerned anymore.
[The sailors go below deck on the ship.]
Now, steersman, will you take the watch for me?
There's no danger, but it's good if you keep watch.
STEERSMAN: Be without worry! Sleep peacefully, captain!
[DALAND goes into his cabin. The STEERSMAN is alone on deck. The storm has abated somewhat and returns only at sporadic intervals. The waves are still rough on the open sea. The STEERSMAN makes his round once more, then sits down near the rudder. He yawns, then rouses himself as sleep comes over him.]
STEERSMAN: Through thunder and storm, through distant seas
I draw near, my lass!
Through towering waves, from the south
I am here, my lass!
My girl, were there no south wind,
I could never come to you:
Oh, dear south wind, blow once more!
My lass longs for me!
Hohoye! Hallohoho! Yolohohoho!
[A wave breaks against the ship, shaking it violently. The STEERSMAN starts up and looks around. Having satisfied himself that no harm has been done, he sits down again and sings, while sleep gradually overcomes him.]
On southern shores, in distant lands,
I have thought of you;
through storm and sand, from Moorish strands
a gift I have brought for you.
My girl, praise the fair south wind,
for I bring you a golden ring!
Ah, dear south wind, then blow!
My lass would fain have her gift.
Hohoye! Hollaho!
[He struggles with his fatigue and finally falls asleep.]

-- based on a translation by Lionel Salter

Josef Greindl (bs), Daland; Ernst Häfliger (t), Steersman; RIAS Chamber Chorus, RIAS Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Ferenc Fricsay, cond. DG, recorded 1952


Gottlob Frick (bs), Daland; Fritz Wunderlich (t), Steersman; Berlin State Opera Chorus, Staatskapelle Berlin, Franz Konwitschny, cond. EMI-Deutsche Schallplatten, recorded 1959


Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Daland; Harald Ek (t), Steersman; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded live, 1971

I thought you might also enjoy hearing how the other Dalands we've heard Friday night and today handle this scene, so here it is again, only in these cases without the Steersman's song.


Matti Salminen (bs), Daland; Graham Clark (t), Steersman; Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Woldemar Nelsson, cond. Philips, recorded live, 1985

Martti Talvela (bs), Daland; Gerhard Unger (t), Steersman; BBC Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI, recorded Feb.-Mar. 1968

Kurt Moll (bs), Daland; Thomas Moser (t), Steersman; Vienna State Opera Concert Chorus, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. EMI, recorded 1981-83

There is, by the way, a gorgeous performance of the piece by Kurt Moll on an Orfeo disc of operatic ariss, unencumbered by the sort of dream state in which Herbert von Karajan seems to have overlaid his Dutchman recording. It's a performance I used to love listening to over and over, but I don't have it on CD. I kept thinking I was going to dub it from my LP copy, but I didn't. Some other time.


COMING UP (MAYBE NEXT WEEK, MAYBE NOT)

How I got onto the subject of Karl Ridderbusch in the first place, with excerpts from his King Heinrich in Lohengrin and some other goodies.


VISIT THE STAND-ALONE SUNDAY CLASSICS WITH KEN

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