Swiss director Milo Rau has staged Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" at Deutsche Oper Berlin with an allegorical frame that casts the opera's characters as nations and historical burdens, Svenska Dagbladet reports. The production's preparatory work took place in Israel, where Rau traveled with the performers Shlomi Moto Wagner and Sara von Schwarze. There they presented Wagner's music through a portable stereo and in small concerts featuring singers Tamara Nishri, who is Israeli, and Majd Asady, who is Palestinian.
According to Svenska Dagbladet, the German premiere took place on Friday, 30 October 2026. The newspaper's review is by Loretto Villalobos.
Why it matters
The production places Wagner's music in a setting where it carries unusual weight. Svenska Dagbladet notes that Wagner's work is at minimum shunned in Israel, and in some contexts banned outright. Performing it there, even in informal settings, is therefore a deliberate act rather than a routine tour stop.
The staging also assigns the opera's central figures a political meaning. In Rau's reading, Senta, sung by Aušrinė Stundytė, stands for the state of Israel. Erik, performed by Attilio Glaser, represents the Palestinian people. The Dutchman, sung by Michael Volle, embodies the guilt borne by the German people for the Second World War.
Svenska Dagbladet describes the result as a starkly political production, consistent with a director known for refusing to sidestep controversy. The newspaper's headline states that Rau does not let the audience look away.
A cast of nations and a sacrifice
The allegory culminates in Senta's self-sacrifice at the end of the opera. Svenska Dagbladet characterizes this as a fairly explicit image of what the future of the Israeli state might require if reconciliation is to be possible.
The newspaper's account frames the production as a provocation, though it presents this as a question rather than a verdict. The provocation lies in the combination of Wagner's music, its reception history in Israel, and the national roles Rau has assigned to the characters.
The Israeli preparations were not staged inside a concert hall. Rau and his collaborators moved through the country playing Wagner from a portable stereo and in small performances with Nishri and Asady. Svenska Dagbladet does not describe the venues or audiences for those sessions, only that they took place.
What to watch
The production is now in the repertoire at Deutsche Oper Berlin, where audiences can judge the allegory for themselves. Svenska Dagbladet's review, written by Loretto Villalobos, offers one early assessment of how the staging lands.
