With Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman", a masterpiece of Romantic opera returns to the stage of the Theater Altenburg Gera - a gripping play of storm, longing and redemption that becomes a fascinating synthesis of the arts in Achim Freyer's impressive visual language.
The ghostly Captain Dutchman and his ship's crew are condemned to sail the world's oceans without rest. Holländer can only find salvation by swearing eternal fidelity to a woman. He is allowed to go ashore every seven years. This period has now expired once again and the ghost ship docks in a bay. The sailor Daland, taken with Dutchman's treasures, offers him the hand of his daughter Senta. Senta has been singing the ballad of the Flying Dutchman for a long time and is immersed in his image. Erik, who loves Senta, has terrible nightmares of her falling for the ominous Dutchman ...
Richard Wagner took up the legend of the cursed sailor and created a romantic ghost opera about unfulfilled longings, the forces of nature and redemption in The Flying Dutchman (premiere in 1843). Between gruesome and gentle, fanatical and fatalistic - the versatile director, stage designer and painter Achim Freyer has worked on many of the world's most important stages. For Theater Altenburg Gera, he is working for the first time on The Flying Dutchman, which he brings to the stage in his very special visual language.
January 16, 25 and 31, 2026
