Note 403 — Chapter III · THE ARTIST IN PRACTICE
Reading edition
The overture has been altered to correspond with the altered ending of the opera. Our concert audiences need to remember that the electrifying effect of this wood-wind entry in the overture is an after-thought on Wagner's part. At some time or other he added to the score the following stage directions at the point in the final scene where the passage just quoted enters: "A dazzling glory illumines the group in the background; Senta raises the Dutchman, presses him to her breast, and points him towards heaven with hand and glance." This note is given in the Fürstner score, but not in that of Breitkopf and Härtel.