That was evident from the start of the overture during the one-night only touring performance at Birmingham Hippodrome in which Wagner’s dramatically stormy music was accompanied not by any image of ship at the mercy of the sea but by a woman in labour clinging to the end of bed during her contractions.

After the mother dies in childbirth, her child much older and in a red dress runs in wide circles around the stage, and then a woman also in blood-red appears. As we find out, this mirrors the plight of the Dutchman forced by the Devil to sail endlessly around the world after vowing to round a cape even if it took all eternity. As the story goes, an angel agreed to let the sea-captain and his ghostly ship make every seven years and to free him of his curse if he were to find a woman to marry who would remain faithful to him until death.

Director Jack Furness states in the programme notes that he was inspired by the beauty and life on the Welsh coast. He also wanted a production about people and ideas rather than things, and to reframe the gender politics of the piece.

There is nothing on stage to suggest a Welsh seascape or indeed anything of a maritime nature as the cast rely on a completely stripped-back performance space with a bare minimum of props, which is no doubt a result of financial constraints. The performance is often static, with the sense of atmosphere achieved as best as it can through Elin Steele’s costumes and Lizzie Powell’s lighting design.

The show is however strong on character interaction, and concepts of loneliness, obsession, jealousy and greed are well explored. When sea-going merchant Daland finds the Dutchman’s ship moored alongside his ship offshore after a storm he is quick to offer up his daughter Senta to him after being told he had a shipload of treasure, even though he knows she is in a relationship with a hunter Erik with little money.

Senta in turn is obsessed with the idea of saving the legendary Flying Dutchman from his fate, staring obsessively at his picture in a way that suggests she is in a continuing trauma over her mother’s death. She also regards the sea as a source of escape from a community that does not understand her.

The cast is first rate, with the singing and acting of bass-baritone Simon Bailey as The Dutchman and soprano Rachel Nicholls as Senta both outstanding as lost and tormented souls finding each other if for only a short while. Nicholls’ singing of the ballad to the Flying Dutchman is richly lyrical. James Creswell is also the perfect Dalland, full of authority with his bass voice, while tenor Leonardo Caimi comes across as a dull suitor but sympathetic. All the characters, including the magnificent WHO Chorus, sing Wagner’s own libretto in German with clarity and conviction.

Tomáš Hanus conducted the Welsh National Opera orchestra with thrilling verve in his final production as music director before he takes up the post of principal guest conductor with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Welsh National Opera, in the 80th anniversary of its first performance, will not return to Birmingham in 2027 after significantly reducing its schedule.