Ethel Smyth: Der Wald

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Der Wald may not be such an outstanding piece [as The Wreckers], but it is well worth getting to know. While Harry Brewster’s somewhat naïve libretto holds it back, Smyth’s score shows an impressive... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 8th Sep 2023
Catalogue No: RES10324
Label: Resonus Classics
Length: 66 minutes

Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2023
Presto Recordings of the Year

Winner 2023

World Premiere Recording (Rediscovery)

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Resonus

Special offer ends: 08/05/2024

This release includes a digital booklet

Resonus

Special offer ends: 08/05/2024

Smyth: Der Wald

Work length1:06:17

Album only

Natalya Romaniw (soprano), Claire Barnett-Jones, Matthew Brook (bass), Andrew Shore (baritone), Robert Murray (tenor), Morgan Pearse
BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra
John Andrews

I. Prologue

Track length5:34

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

II. Transformation – Scene I

Track length2:56

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

III. Scene II

Track length10:06

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

IV. Scene III

Track length2:57

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

V. Scene IV

Track length15:27

Album only

VI. Scene V

Track length11:16

$2.00

$2.80

$3.50

VII. Scene VI

Track length3:36

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

VIII. Scene VII

Track length2:30

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

IX. Scene VIII

Track length1:28

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

X. Scene IX

Track length8:28

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

XI. Epilogue

Track length1:59

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

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Interview, John Andrews on Ethel Smyth's Der Wald

11th September 2023

The conductor discusses the first-ever recording of Smyth's second opera - a deliciously dark fairy-tale in one act, which was premiered in Berlin in 1902 and subsequently transferred to the Metropolitan Opera.

For over 100 years the only opera by a woman to have been performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Der Wald is a taut, brooding drama where the simplicity of village life comes under threat from the uncontrollable desires unleashed by the darkness of the forest. Richly orchestrated, harmonically daring, and demanding a huge expressive range from the cast, the narrative drives relentlessly forward from wedding to tragedy in a single act, observed pitilessly by the eternal spirits of the forest. John Andrews conducts the BBC Singers, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and an international cast in the first ever recording of this work, using Smyth's English version of the libretto.

Reviews

December 2023

Der Wald may not be such an outstanding piece [as The Wreckers], but it is well worth getting to know. While Harry Brewster’s somewhat naïve libretto holds it back, Smyth’s score shows an impressive range of skills...Andrews rescues another lost English opera from oblivion and leads an excellent performance: it would be difficult to imagine finer accounts of the central roles than those given here…

November 2023

Andrews directs a strong performance from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, who relish Smyth’s evocative (and occasionally Wagnerian) scoring. With the BBC Singers, they support a fine cast, dominated by Claire Barnett-Jones.

14th September 2023

This, Der Wald’s first recording, argues its case persuasively. The conductor, John Andrews, manages to make the hour-long score sound at once concise and expansive, and we sense the hint of mystery that Smyth wanted to engender with her depiction of the primeval forest setting...It is sung, in English (the premiere was in German), by a cast that does Smyth’s music full justice.

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Interview, John Andrews on Ethel Smyth's Der Wald

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