Scene from ‘The Wreckers’
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The first fully-staged American production of “The Wreckers” (1902-4) by Dame Ethel Smyth opens in the Fisher Center at Bard College as part of the Bard SummerScape festival on Friday, July 24, and runs for five performances through August 2, 2015.
As a Victorian-born Englishwoman, and a bisexual suffragette at that, Smyth has been too often marginalized by the classical community. Although she remains the only female composer whose work has ever been produced at the Metropolitan Opera, “The Wreckers” – her greatest contribution to the genre – has yet to be staged in the United States.
SummerScape’s presentation, then, marks a major historical milestone. Returning to direct is European Opera Prize-winner Thaddeus Strassberger, who scored previous SummerScape hits with “Le roi malgré lui,” “Les Huguenots,” “Der ferne Klang,” and “Oresteia.”
“The Wreckers”’ five performances (July 24, 26, 29, 31; Aug 2) feature a stellar cast headed by Katharine Goeldner and Louis Otey, with the American Symphony Orchestra led by music director Leon Botstein, whose 2007 U.S. concert premiere of Smyth’s opera was hailed as “one of the best he has ever put on” (New York Times).
Composed to a libretto by Smyth’s friend and lover Henry Brewster, “The Wreckers” is based on tales of the alleged Cornish coastal practice of luring ships onto the rocks and murdering their crews, in order to plunder their cargoes. In the isolated community Smyth depicts, such wrecking – under the leadership of the local pastor, Pascoe – constitutes an act of religious faith.
Pitted against this community are Pascoe’s young wife Thirza and her lover, Mark, who conspire to save the ships by kindling secret beacons to guide them. Caught red-handed, the lovers are tried by a village tribunal and condemned to die in a cave at the shoreline, drowned by the incoming tide.
Scene from ‘The Wreckers’
Exploring the consequences of mass hysteria and populist justice – framed by a powerful display of orchestral writing, memorable motivic recurrence, and brilliant use of chorus – Smyth’s story has special resonance for contemporary audiences.
As Susana Meyer, producer of opera at SummerScape, explains: “’The Wreckers’ is undoubtedly her masterpiece… . It is grand, it is exciting, it has a fantastic story, it has rousing choruses, it has romantic interest, it has lies, betrayals, sex, religion – it has everything. There’s nothing missing to make it a really fantastic piece of theater.”
As Thirza, Bard’s production stars mezzo Katharine Goeldner, familiar from recent appearances in the title role of “Carmen” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and in “Anna Bolena” at the Metropolitan Opera.
Reprising from the American Symphony’s U.S. concert premiere the role of Thirza’s husband, Pascoe, is baritone Louis Otey, who recently impressed the UK’s Telegraph as “outstanding.”
English tenor Neal Cooper, a “huge asset” (Sunday Times, UK) at the Royal Opera House, completes “The Wreckers”’ love triangle as the young fisherman Mark.
Australian soprano Sky Ingram brings her “compelling stage presence, great looks and a versatile soprano voice” (Observer, UK) to the role of young Avis, whose jealousy leads to the lovers’ downfall, with baritone Michael Mayes – “by far the best singer and most convincing actor in the cast” (Wall Street Journal) of San Francisco’s Dead Man Walking – as her father, lighthouse keeper Lawrence.
Ethel Smyth (1858–1944)
The Wreckers (1902-04)
American Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Directed by Thaddeus Strassberger
Set design by Erhard Rom
Costume design by Kaye Voyce
Lighting design by JAX Messenger
Projection Design by Hannah Wasileski
Pascoe: Louis Otey
Thirza: Katharine Goeldner
Mark: Neal Cooper
Avis: Sky Ingram
Tallan: Dennis Petersen
Lawrence: Michael Mayes
Jack: Kendra Broom
Harvey: Peter Van Derick
Sosnoff Theater
July 24* & 31 at 7:30 pm
July 26*, July 29 & Aug 2* at 2 pm
Tickets start at $25
Opera Talk
July 26 at 12 pm
Free and open to the public
Special support for this program is provided by Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander.