Daland

Daland is a fictional character in Richard Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), first performed in 1843. He is a Norwegian sea captain and the father of Senta, one of the opera’s central characters. Daland serves as a pragmatic, authoritative patriarch whose actions help drive the plot in the early scenes.

In the narrative, Daland encounters the cursed Flying Dutchman at sea and invites the stranger to his homeland. He negotiates a marriage between his daughter, Senta, and the Dutchman as a means to secure wealth and favorable terms for his voyage and household. This arrangement creates a contrast between worldly, material concerns and the romantic and supernatural elements that pervade the work, and it sets the stage for the opera’s exploring themes of redemption, devotion, and fate.

Musically, Daland is typically written for bass voice. His lines express authority, practicality, and paternal concern, providing a counterpoint to the Dutchman’s restless, supernatural longing. The character’s presence anchors the drama of the opening acts and is a staple of the Wagnerian repertory.

The name Daland is of Germanic origin and is most widely recognized today through Wagner’s opera. In performance practice, the character has been portrayed by numerous bass singers in major opera houses around the world, making Daland one of the enduring figures in late Romantic opera.