Resonus Classics to Release Premiere Recording of Ethel Smyth’s Opera Der Wald
On 8 September 2023, Resonus Classicswill release the world premiere recording of Ethel Smyth’s one-act opera Der Wald.
For over 100 years the only opera by a woman to have been performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Der Wald tells the tale of village life coming under threat from the uncontrollable desires unleashed by the darkness of the forest.
John Andrews conducts the BBC Singers, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and an international cast featuring soprano Natalya Romaniw as Röschen, mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones as Iolanthe, tenor Robert Murray as Heinrich, baritone Andrew Shore as the Pedlar baritone Morgan Pearse as Rudolf and bass Matthew Brook as Peter, using Smyth’s English version of the libretto.
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.