Der Fliegende Holländer

One of the most controversial productions in Met history, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s surreal staging of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer famously appeared for only one season before being retired. This 1979 Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast was recorded during that run and features an electrifying cast, led by then–Music Director James Levine. Bass-baritone Donald McIntyre—whose impressive Met career included leading roles in nine of Wagner’s operas—stars as the otherworldly Flying Dutchman, cursed to sail the seas for all eternity unless a virtuous woman can redeem his soul. Appearing less than a month after her company debut, soprano Carol Neblett is the opera’s heroine, Senta, with veteran Paul Plishka as her father, Daland, and tenor William Lewis doing double duty as the Steersman and Erik.