Der fliegende Holländer

Act 1 A rocky cove on the Norwegian Coast

A violent storm has driven Daland and his crew several miles beyond his home on the Norwegian coast. As the storm dies down, the crew finds a safe place to anchor and Daland tells them that they have earned a good rest. Daland leaves the young steersman in charge of the ship’s watch. The steersman begins to sing a ballad about his sweetheart and falls asleep (“Mit Gewitter und Sturm aus fernem Meer”). While he is sleeping, the sky begins to darken and the waters grow rougher. A ghostly red-sailed ship appears on the horizon and drops its anchor next to Daland’s ship. Its captain, a mysterious man, steps ashore. He is a cursed man, The Flying Dutchman, a folk legend passed down through the ages, though he does not reveal himself to anyone he comes into contact with. He is doomed to live a deathless life of wandering the seas and once every seven years he may come ashore to search for a woman whose perfect love will redeem him from this