Wagner’s Flying Dutchman has always posed questions for producers. The story of a doomed sailor cursed to remain at sea forever unless he can find a woman prepared to be faithful to him even until death, it combines the intangible with the very tangible when the Dutchman meets villager Senta and it seems the curse may finally be lifted. Senta has long fantasised about the Dutchman’s story and dreamed of being the one to rescue him.

But directors are left asking where a relationship based on self-interest and self-delusion can lead and how much is real and how much fantasy?

This production by Welsh National Opera attempts to explain Senta’s strange obsession by giving her a back story. Senta’s mother is usually absent in the work but here her spirit is very present. Initially we watch Senta’s mother giving birth to her daughter throughout the roughly ten-minute overture and then a few years later dying in a hospital bed watched by her daughter.

The question then is – are we saying that Senta’s desire to be the Dutchman’s salvation is because she has no mother figure? And if so, what does that say about her love for the Dutchman?

This is one of many questions posed by the production directed by Jack Furness and designed by Elin Steele. The team have been keen to focus on the metaphysical and philosophical elements of the story and have stripped back the production so there are no ships, no treasure – in fact very little of anything bar a large abstract painting at the rear of the stage.

There is without doubt a raw beauty to the production which evokes the wildness and bareness of the Scandinavian coast. But there are moments when the lack of props feels awkward. As the women wait for the men to return from the sea they urge each other to spin and weave and yet there are no wheels or looms. Instead each woman sits fiddling with a dress which distracts from Senta’s great aria in which she explains the Dutchman’s story.

So too when Senta’s father makes the deal that the Dutchman will marry his daughter he alludes to all the riches he is being offered while looking at nothing.

An almost empty stage does mean we focus largely on the singing which is wonderful. Rachel Nicholls is a powerful Senta who commands our attention and sympathy throughout. Here is a young woman looking for purpose and finding it in a mysterious stranger. Simon Bailey gives us a woeful Dutchman desperate to lift the curse which he carries and finally hopeful he has found salvation in Senta.

James Creswell balances practicality and love for his daughter as he bargains her away, seemingly cold-hearted in his greed and yet he is tender when with her so that we accept that in a poor seaside community he believes he is doing what is best for her.

Leonardo Caimi is the faithful but disappointed Erik whose love for Senta cannot match the romantic dreams she has.

The WNO chorus give plenty of life to the show’s sweeping choruses while the orchestra, under the baton of WNO musical director Tomáš Hanus, ensure we feel the emotion of Wagner’s intensely moving score.

WNO have been hit by swingeing Arts Council cuts and have to be applauded for still investing in new work and in this Dutchman they have been brave enough to try something different. I suspect this bold endeavour will split audiences between those who love the concentration on the singing and relationship between its two leads, and those who prefer to see characters in their environment or enjoy a bit of spectacle.

Four Stars

Welsh National Opera The Flying Dutchman was reviewed by Diane Parkes on Thursday 7 May at Birmingham Hippodrome.