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Rating: 
Summary: All the problems of outdoor production plus a TV video
Review: From Savonlinna. It's an outdoor performance and re-inforces my prejudice against them. Minimal scenery. Not even an attempt to play out the last scene. Plus the whole thing is lip sinc and although the soloists manage all right the chorus doesn't even make the attempt. Musically, the orchestra is a little raw. They play the first act and pause but then run acts 2 and 3 together. Grundheber, Behrens and Salminen and very good. On the whole I would hold out for Kupfer or some other indoor production.
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Summary: Jan Verwers , Chiangmai, Thailand A Disaster
Review: Good to very good singing, nice chorus, reasonable stage (as far as visible). But the TV-production is a disaster, with all the completely irrelavant shots in dark passages (of the castle?), the rather uninteresting drawings of a ship (why?) and finally the very bad synchronization between audio and video throughout the whole opera. If you insist to buy this DVD, don't forget to switch off your screen before you start!
Rating: 
Summary: Finally on DVD
Review: I am thrilled that this version of Der Fliegende Hollander is available on DVD. Many people will differ in opinion regarding the lead characters and their vocal abilities. I loved this production, from the staging and vocal point of view. behrens and Grundheber sing well and immerse themselves in tjeir charcters.
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Summary: Problematic Production
Review: I viewed this production last night. Some great singing Salminen, Grundheber and Behrens. Unknown tenors Sirkia and Silvvasti both sang musically and well. Fine young chours. Problems with synchonization of audio and video. Major orchestra problems especially the horns. I didn't like the intros to scenes repetitive. Quite annoyed that the first note of the overture is clipped. Sound was primitave for DVD. All in all DVD and video production values not thrilling.
Rating:
Summary: A Sizzling Dutchman
Review: In a word 'splendid'. After years of waiting, a visual production worthy of the composer has arrived. Emotive performances by all of the principals - a devious Deland, a dark and troubled Dutchman, and a redemptive Senta. Staging complimentary to the theme. I have seen and heard it performed on stage before, as well as owning it on electronic media. Everything prior had its flaws, and other reviewers here have their legitimate gripes (I guess) about this production. I say, if you want a Dutchman to watch as well as listen to with great pleasure because you just love the Dutchman you won't be sorry with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A musically thrilling Dutchman - finally on DVD
Review: On musical terms alone, this 1989 production from Savonlinna is worth acquiring - it's the first available on DVD. Grundheber, Salminen and Behrens are in excellent form (Salminen especially), with excellent work as well by the unknown Raimo Sirkia as Erik. Despite a few gaffs, the orchestra plays quite well for conductor Leif Segerstam, who manages to propel things forward with a great sense of drama and keep a widely dispersed cast together. Soundstage is actually quite interesting, given that the performance is inside the courtyard of a castle, but stage noise does intrude now and then (how DARE the stage director get by with having Mary continue to spin while Senta sings her aria!). Picture and videography are less than state-of-the-art. Why can't we just enjoy what's happening on stage, rather than having all these fades to stock shots of ships, water, faces, etc. And not to be able to enjoy the curtain calls! Unforgivable. Still, on musical terms alone, an enjoyable and moving production of Wagner's early work.
Rating:
Summary: A musically thrilling Dutchman - finally on DVD
Review: On musical terms alone, this 1989 production from Savonlinna is worth acquiring - it's the first available on DVD. Grundheber, Salminen and Behrens are in excellent form (Salminen especially), with excellent work as well by the unknown Raimo Sirkia as Erik. Despite a few gaffs, the orchestra plays quite well for conductor Leif Segerstam, who manages to propel things forward with a great sense of drama and keep a widely dispersed cast together. Soundstage is actually quite interesting, given that the performance is inside the courtyard of a castle, but stage noise does intrude now and then (how DARE the stage director get by with having Mary continue to spin while Senta sings her aria!). Picture and videography are less than state-of-the-art. Why can't we just enjoy what's happening on stage, rather than having all these fades to stock shots of ships, water, faces, etc. And not to be able to enjoy the curtain calls! Unforgivable. Still, on musical terms alone, an enjoyable and moving production of Wagner's early work.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Good; Would be Better without the Effects
Review: Overall, I find this to be a very satisfying production of Dutchman. Hildegard Behrens has moments when her voice is raspy and strained, but basically the singing is quite good.
The staging is very effective, in particular during the first scene; however, I do find the "atmospheric" touches (mainly the superimposing of undulating water over the scene, sometimes at the complete elimination of the stage action) to be overdone and intrusive.
Technically, there is a problem with the audio and video being together. This gives the impression that parts of the production are lip-synced. If you can overlook this and aren't prone to seasickness, this is a DVD worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: Not recommended
Review: This is a major disappointment. Hildgard Behrens is undergoing some troubling period with her voice, which is practically in shreds here. As a result, her performance is a trial both to herself as well as to the listener. Grundheber is a pale Dutchman and his phrasing is often choppy. The production is dark and unfriendly to the DVD viewer, and the direction and orchestral accompaniment is unremarkable. Better look elsewhere for a DVD of this opera.
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Summary: Vocally enthralling, visually atmospheric Dutchman
Review: Wagner's Der Flieglande Hollander is probably his single most effective piece of theater. It's relatively short, and the opera moves along at an astonishingly fast clip. At this stage Wagner was not fond of sprinkling his works with long, "profound" monologues (think of Wotan's 40 minute narration in Act 2 of Die Walkure).
This performance took place at an ancient Finnish castle, and the directors obviously love the atmospheric setting as there are many shots of the outside waters and the craggly staircases of the castle. I rather like this -- for a film, it's a wonderful setting. The performance is live though, with a clapping audience, so there's no "lip-synching" that ruins so many operatic films.
Vocally this Dutchman is hard to beat. Franz Grundeheber is a genuine Wagnerian bass baritone, with an extremely dark vibrant tone. The closeups do not flatter him visually -- he's a "side" singer, and he sweats so much during the performance that his eyeshadow and mascara smear all over his face. Strangely the Dutchman is costumed in medieval armor, which doesn't really make sense. I mean, he's a sea captain. He's not Lohengrin. But this is a world-class Dutchman, and his thrilling Narrative is one of the video's highlights. If I have *one* quibble with Grundeheber it's that for a doomed sea captain he seems way too robust and vigorous. He doesn't really have that haunted, desperate quality that perhaps would make his portrayal richer.
Hildegard Behrens as Senta is also caught in her all-too-brief prime. She's lovely to look at, and a sensitive nuanced actress. Her voice already sounds a bit shrill under pressure, but it's not yet intrusive. Matti Salminen is also a vocally wonderful if stolid Daland.
The orchestral playing is disappointing. Brass is way overplayed and shrill. More distracting are the video "enhancements" like closeups of singers superimposed over shots of the ocean waves, often in the MIDDLE of a scene!!! Still, the performance is vocally so valuable these are mere annoyances in one of the best examples of Wagner on video.
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