I can’t really disagree with Anne Midgette, who reviewed the Washington National Opera‘s new production of “The Flying Dutchman” in the Washington Post. It’s a mixed bag (Senta, who was played by Lori Phillips last night, was excellent). But I will say this: the most Wagnerian elements of the opera—the creepy ghosts, the enormous bass riffs, the lines about doomsday and eternal damnation—were enough to ward off the after-work sleepiness that I was feeling at the beginning of the overture. For a metal and horror fan such as myself, it’s a great story, and the abstract expressionist staging was well suited to the telling. Playing through April 10th.