Whatever happened to "If it works don't fix it"?

"It is true that I removed Petrika Ionesco from his role as director and scenic designer once the production arrived onstage, as it had become clear that the revisions we had been working on since the Liege premiere were not successful. Of the basic scenic pieces designed by Mr. Ionesco, 60% remain. The staging of the principals has been considerably amplified, and the use of supernumeraries for various purposes has been virtually eliminated. Many of the projections in the production originated conceptually with Mr. Ionesco, but they have been expanded upon and refined by production designer S. Katy Tucker working closely with me and the staff- most specifically with Assistant Director Elkhanah Pulitzer. Our goal has been to tell the story of the opera clearly, theatrically, and musically.
-    David Gockley, General Director, San Francisco Opera

Well, while I'm sure the intentions were good, the result is a mistake.

The current production of Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) that opened last night at San Francisco Opera is a co-production with Belgium's Opera Royal de Wallonie, which premiered in Liege in 2011. From what I could find of the Liege production online, the 40% that's been changed was the stuff that should have been kept. To make Hollander work requires an acceptance of the story's macabre setting, an acceptance that pretty much every character is batshit crazy in one way or another (Erik may be the most co-dependent, in-denial romantic figure in all of opera), and have a conductor who really knows how to conduct the score (I really like Patrick Summers but this sounded more like Bellini on steroids than Wagner, and it was pretty horrible- flaccid brass, missed entrances all over the place in the wind section, limp tempos). Most importantly, and Ionesco obviously got this, Senta is not some dreamy-eyed adolescent, but a girl with some serious issues. Compare the opening of the Liege production, which clearly makes the case that Senta is a morbid, death-obsessed woman who is ripe for what's about to happen to her, compared with the innocent woman standing in front of a Howard Hawks movie now showing at the War Memorial. Spoiler warning:

(here's the link if it doesn't show up in your mobile browser)

While that looks nothing like what I saw Tuesday night, it does sets the story perfectly  in place.

Below is another video showing scenes from the Liege production. Note the interesting aliens (?) at 4:44, the different tone of the staging (and props), the costuming, and most importantly, the ending at 5:09, which makes much more sense than the re-enactment of the climax of Tosca currently bringing down the curtain in San Francisco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgh-btYz710

I'll have more to say about this, a lot more actually, but for now, I think Inonesco was wronged (not to mention the audience). It's a complete shipwreck.