Once in a blue moon thanks to the effort of the German director the main Russian Opera Company surprised us with a rather courageous version of the classics.

I admit in my silent Philistine joy: when the curtain in the Bolshoi theatre was opened to the first sounds of the overture of "The Flying Dutch", your obedient servant thought with some satisfaction – “Well, the director is praised-to-the-skies àvant-guardist Peter Konvitschny, but the offspring of his is quite a traditional àcademic performance. The good boy, still, turned up economical in a German way, satisfied with the simple scenery of his compatriot – stage designer Yohannes Layaker: the rough sea is simply painted on the back drop and only the gangways of the ships, trying to escape the gale in the bay, can be seen.

But to tell the truth, my first impression was in a way dwarfed by a little bit dull sounding of the orchestra under Alexandr Vedernikov’s management, and, now and again out of tune natural French horn in particular. It seems to me that our days’ musicians have come out of habit and cannot play this ancient instrument belonging to the Wagnerian times. This instrument entered the orchestra due to the conductor–co-producer’s idea, a little bit tricky, perhaps, that it is the earliest version of the opera that must be staged. This is the very version that was written in 1841, practically in no time, as it took the 28-year-old composer only seven weeks to make it. As Vedernikov admits this version of Wagner’s opera is notable for its special integrity if compared with the version of 1860-s, more refined and sophisticated in terms of composer’s devices, the one which is being staged on the scenes around the world nowadays.

As to the singers in the premier, they were professionally strong from the very beginning, though, actually I do not quite mean the bass Robert Hale, the American singer invited to do the role of the Dutch. He was quite all right but for a good deal of out-of-tuning in the low register. Our home talents - the bass Alexandr Naumenko (Daland) and tenor Maksi Paster (Helmsman) - both felt convincingly at home in the world of Wagner’s complex and sophisticated intonation and images.

But, finally, Act One, quite traditional in terms of methods of directing, is over and with no pausing the orchestra starts playing the introduction to the Second Act (Wagner sought to avoid breaks between the Acts) and here Herr Konvitschny has shown his true colours! The Philister-àcademist in me has to hold his tongue: prepared to see a room with traditional spinning-wheels in a ancient house I get blinded with the tiled whiteness of a modern gym, and there are also some girls there, who seem to have completely forgotten the original Wagner’s version’s spindles, and now twisting the pedals of their muscle trainers. They are apparently eager to please their beloved with their well-shaped figures rather than old-fashioned clothes. Here the deceiving simplicity of the director vanished into thin air! And his Senta is no defenceless plain sweety, whose only way to prove her love for this strange alien is to commit a suicide in his and everybody’s presence. In a state of exaltation the girl finds herself able to do a much more spectacular thing: to bind the Hollander to herself, as well as to get rid of both the former groom, Erik (Roman Muravitsky), whom she doesn’t love any more, and the crowd of Philistines, condemning her "illegal" passion for this Rolling Stone, she … blows up the whole company, herself and the Hollander and whoever there is around, impressively throwing a candle at a gunpowder barrel which "luckily" turned up to be in its proper place. (what won’t you find in a sea port!) That’s something really modern, just cool!

On the eve of the premiere in his conversation with a journalist of the "Trud" newspaper when he was giving the reasons for his choice to rework the traditional ending of the opera Herr Konvitschny promised an utmost unusual, untraditional finale. To his way of thinking a "plain" suicide of the heroine nowadays is not shocking enough - any Moscow or Berlin newspaper is gay with news about similar "incidents" which seem to have already become the routine of today’s tough and hostile life. And the promise wasn’t empty. Actually, Mr. Konvitschny virtuously follows Walter Felsenstein and Boris Pokrovsky’s traditions, which make the ending of the opera really stunning, discrown both Senta who trespasses the line and the people who drive her to do it. Apparently, such is the response of the director to today's life where the human being has become a copper change, a trifle in infinite conflicts, ranging from family quarrels up to mass terrorist attacks.

The choice to perform the key role fell to a strong singer - the German soprano Anna-Katarina Benke. Apart from her remarkably rich voice, silver and clear, she is generously gifted with emotional energy, which may hug and warm yet in a second burn with its disastrous flame. Alexandr Vedernikov who was felt as a bit unengaged at the start got the fire and inspired by Wagner’s tremendous music gradually "melted" and got into the “stream”. So, in the course of the performance the closer to the end the more it reminded an avalanche, sweeping away everything on its way.

But the closing bars of the opera made me puzzled. Probably, the director wanted to hammer it home that none of the characters survived the explosion. With this in view, first he made the orchestra stop playing. Then the light died away, and in the pitch darkness this inconceivably beautiful symphonic music was played by … the phonograph…. O. K. Then, it should have been let to sound stunning with all its powerful, voluminous fortissimo rather than rustling gently and softly as it did! It reminds me of what a famous American writer Henry Miller said on some other, but a similar occasion - concerning a too soft, in his opinion, finale in Ravel’s " Bolero " - “if begun with drums, the music should be finished with trotyl …”

No matter, this premiere in the Bolshoi went down like a bomb. It’s been really a long time since the famous metropolitan troupe worked last with such a programme, courageous and contemporary performance. Besides there haven’t been great Wagner’s masterpieces staged for the last twenty years here, which, certainly, didn’t add to the prestige of the world-known theatre. By the way, the Bolshoi theatre’s history doesn’t know any other examples of joint venture with the Bavarian Staatsoper, one of the leading German opera companies. It is still more pleasant that the Muskovites have been the first to see "the Hollander" while the Munich public will see it “sailing” in two years time only. In conclusion I am happy to say that very soon all the main parts are going to be performed by our, Russian singers…