Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer from Edward Gardner in Oslo

A terrific new Flying Dutchman sails into port today, with Edward Gardner at the helm and the crew of the Norwegian National Opera providing lusty, idiomatic support: the recording was captured during concert-performances in Oslo last April, shortly before Gardner officially took over as Music Director.

Much of the buzz around these performances was generated by the presence of Lise Davidsen, singing her first (and probably last) performances as Senta, the sea-captain’s daughter whose devotion rescues the eponymous mariner from eternal wandering; having bided her time before taking on the role, Davidsen is now working towards her debuts as Isolde and Brünnhilde and unlikely to return to Senta any time soon.

To say that Davidsen doesn’t disappoint is an understatement, but this exhilarating recording grabs you by the scruff of the neck long before she appears on the scene. Gardner has a long history with this piece, and in his hands the Overture becomes something akin to a tone-poem, with every shift in mood and colour beautifully delineated and each leitmotif shaped with awareness of the long game (Davidsen’s distinctive phrasing of Senta’s ‘redemption’ theme, for instance, is anticipated to the letter here). And it’s wonderful to hear so much of the string detail which can often get swamped: both Gardner and the engineers ensure that the brass don’t obliterate what’s going on elsewhere, without ever leaving you feeling short-changed.

The choral singers are one of the glories of this recording, and even their brief contribution in the opening scene will make your hair stand on end: this really does sound like a bunch who knows how to hoist sails and haul anchors, and they take the roof off once the crew get to let their hair down in Act Three. There’s also an eloquent cameo from Norwegian tenor Eirik Grøtvedt as the Steersman, deliciously sheepish when caught napping on the job by Brindley Sherratt’s bluff, straightforward Daland (who often sounds as if he’s wandered into this Scandi Noir psychodrama from an opera buffa – no bad thing).

In terms of temperament and timbre, Sherratt is well contrasted with Gerald Finley’s introspective, aristocratic Dutchman, who is lighter of voice than we often hear in the role but wrings every last psychological nuance from text and line throughout: one senses that Gardner is keeping the orchestra on the leash in his great expository monologue, although Finley’s astute word-painting more than compensates for any lack of straightforward firepower here.

But at the heart of it all is Davidsen, who delivers a performance so commanding that the recording may as well be renamed Senta. Her first dreamy entry (as she gazes upon the Dutchman’s portrait amid the hubbub of the girls’ workroom) is floated with such delicacy that I barely recognised her, but as soon as she angrily shushes her companions’ chatter it’s evident that this is no fragile romantic but an assured young woman with a core of steel and the courage of her unorthodox convictions.

A compelling storyteller, she finds all manner of light and shade in her opening ballad (given plenty of space to unfold by Gardner) and is never afraid to step off the gas when required, but in full cry the sheer force and focus of the voice quite literally took my breath away. And there, in fact, lies the sole rub: whereas micro-adjustments might have been made in a studio recording, there are stretches in this live account where Davidsen all but obliterates her male colleagues (Finley’s soft-grained bass-baritone gets lost in their strange love-duet, though perhaps only John Tomlinson at his peak would have been equal to the task).

It's French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac (relatively new to Wagner and due to sing Siegmund at Covent Garden) who comes closest to giving Davidsen a run for her money as her sidelined love-interest Erik – the sound may be a little metallic for some tastes, but he brings real poetry to an ungrateful role and clearly has a bright future in this repertoire.

Caveat about vocal balance notwithstanding, this is now a hot contender in a crowded discography, and one of the most thrilling Wagner recordings to come my way in years.

The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the action of the opera takes place close to Oslo - many thanks to those who pointed out that the Dutchman's ship in fact lands on the coast of Borøya (a three-hour drive from Oslo!) KC