Richard Wagner: DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER

Musical Direction: Asher Fisch
Direction and Lighting: Josef E. Köpplinger
Stage: Rainer Sinell
Costumes: Birte Wallbaum
Daland: Gabor Bretz
Senta: Sinéad Campbell Wallace
Erik: Jamez McCorkle
Mary: Shannon Keegan
Helmsman: Matthew Newlin
Dutchman: Christopher Maltman
Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

The man wandering in his entanglements, yearning for redemption, is a recurring motif in Wagner's operas. In the Holländer the composer's self-image seems particularly clearly reflected in an operatic figure. A captain condemned to eternal life is stranded on Norway's coast, meets Senta, who redeems him through her suicide. At that time, the young Kapellmeister Wagner's wife was unfaithful, so he composed for himself, as a reaction to the storms in his own life, the icon of unconditional love.

Team

Asher Fisch Musical Direction

Asher Fisch is Chief Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and has been Music Director of the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl since the beginning of the 2024/25 season. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading conductors and has an extensive repertoire that covers both opera and concert areas. He began his career as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim and as a conductor at the Berlin State Opera. Since then, he has conducted at major European opera houses, including Vienna, Milan, Munich, Paris and Madrid. As an acknowledged Wagner specialist, Fisch has recorded two complete "Ring" cycles as well as "Tristan und Isolde". In addition, he has intensively studied the Italian repertoire and recently released a Puccini album together with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the new Artistic Director of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl.

As a concert conductor, Asher Fisch has led renowned US American and European orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and the London Symphony Orchestra. Asher Fisch is also active as a pianist and can be experienced in piano concerts, with chamber music and as a song accompanist.

Josef E. Köpplinger Direction and Lighting

Der international gefragte Regisseur und Theaterleiter Josef E. Köpplinger wurde 1964 in Niederösterreich geboren. Er studierte an der Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien. Sein Repertoire umfasst die Genres Schauspiel, Oper, Operette und Musical. Von 1999 bis 2003 leitete er das Musicalfestival Schloss Prugg. Von 2004 bis 2007 war er Schauspieldirektor am Theater in St. Gallen und von 2007 bis 2012 Intendant des Stadttheaters Klagenfurt. Seit 2012 ist er Staatsintendant des Gärtnerplatztheaters München, inszeniert dort eine Vielzahl von Produktionen selbst und brachte bereits zahlreiche Uraufführungen heraus. Seine Regiearbeiten waren darüber hinaus u. a. an der Oper Graz, in Wien am Volkstheater, an der Volksoper, der Staatsoper und dem Theater in der Josefstadt, an der Opéra national du Rhin, dem Aalto-Theater in Essen, der Staatsoper Hamburg, dem Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, dem Staatstheater Nürnberg und der Semperoper Dresden zu sehen.

Rainer Sinell Stage

Birte Wallbaum Costumes

Gabor Bretz Daland

Sinéad Campbell Wallace Senta

Jamez McCorkle Erik

Der amerikanische Tenor Jamez McCorkle erlangte internationale Aufmerksamkeit in der Titelpartie der Oper Omar, die beim Spoleto Festival USA 2022 uraufgeführt und 2023 mit dem Pulitzer-Preis ausgezeichnet wurde. Sie führte ihn an die Los Angeles Opera, die Boston Lyric Opera, die San Francisco Opera und zum Carolina Performing Arts. Zu seinen jüngsten Erfolgen zählen die Partien Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) und Laca Klemeň (Jenůfa). In der aktuellen Saison ist er u. a. als Siegmund (Die Walküre) mit dem Orchestre de Paris, an der Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia und dem Los Angeles Philharmonic zu hören und gibt Rollendebüts als Grigorij Otrepjew (Boris Godunow) in London sowie als Parsifal und Erik (Der fliegende Holländer) bei den Tiroler Festspielen Erl.

Shannon Keegan Mary

Matthew Newlin Helmsman

Christopher Maltman Dutchman

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Orchestra

The music springs from the enthusiasm of a motivated and exceptionally well-prepared ensemble that has grown together over the years. The Tyrolean Festival Erl Orchestra was first formed in the summer of 1999—and today, musicians from 20 nations play together. Already in its first year, the ensemble achieved unprecedented success, which would go on to bring international recognition to the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Top young talents, musicians from major international orchestras, chamber music specialists, and lecturers come together annually in summer and winter—and since 2017, also in fall and spring—as part of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Under the direction of festival founder Gustav Kuhn, the orchestra garnered rave reviews from international critics and cemented its reputation as one of the world’s finest Wagner orchestras. With the start of Jonas Kaufmann’s tenure as artistic director in September 2024, Asher Fisch—a conductor in high demand internationally in both opera and concert settings—has taken over the helm of the orchestra.

In addition to Richard Wagner’s ten major music dramas and operas by Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, and Rossini, the orchestra’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s symphonies and many other key works from the concert repertoire spanning the Baroque and Romantic periods, as well as contemporary works and world premieres.

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Choir

Founded in 2007, the choir serves as an equal musical partner to the festival orchestra. The focus is on meticulous attention to individual parts. As part of the festival, the singers work on a wide range of projects, from a cappella programs to concert and opera productions. Since the opening of the Festspielhaus Erl in 2012, the repertoire has placed additional emphasis on bel canto works and Verdi’s operas.

The development of a Baroque choral sound in the works of Bach and his contemporaries is also a key focus of the ensemble’s work; since 2009, it has maintained close ties with Capella Minsk, the State Academic Choir of the Republic of Belarus. Founded in 1940, this choral ensemble has made it its mission to preserve Belarusian folk music and to premiere works by modern and contemporary composers.

The choir is distinguished by its precise intonation, harmony, versatility, and dynamic sound—qualities that have formed the basis for numerous tours throughout Europe in recent years. Its repertoire includes requiems, masses, cantatas, and sacred works, as well as operas. After Lyudmila Yefimova spent many years developing and shaping the choir’s quality, Olga Yanum took over as the ensemble’s director following her death in 2018.