Written by:
Liane Curtis
» Order
this Issue of Curve:
Vol. 17#2
The London Times praised her 1906 opera The Wreckers as “among the great things in art.” Virginia Woolf was her companion and confidant, and, in 1930, the focus of her passion. She ought to be a household name both in classical music and lesbian history. Yet, the first U.S. performance of her most important opera will take place this September 30.
Who was Ethel Smyth, and why is her extensive musical output, much of it renowned in her lifetime, now nearly forgotten? And could the upcoming landmark performance (by the American Symphony Orchestra, based in New York City) be the event that will pull Smyth’s name out of obscurity?
Smyth (1858-1944) was born near London and at age 19 she decided (overcoming her father's disapproval) to study music in Leipzig. She worked there for 12 years and was acquainted with Brahms, Clara Schumann and other musical luminaries. At first she wrote instrumental works and piano pieces. But later she turned to opera, the genre in which had the most success, making a remarkable achievement. The Wreckers is recognized as the most important of her six operas. It is grand opera in every sense of the term: monumental in conception and full of passion, betrayal, love, and jealousy.
The Wreckers is a macabre tale set about a village that makes its livelihood by luring ships to their destruction on the rocks (through extinguishing the warning light needed for navigation), and then plundering the wreckage. The twisted townspeople believe it is their God-given privilege to create and exploit this brutal situation. But someone is betraying the village by lighting a beacon. Thizra, the disillusioned wife of the church leader Pascoe, goes to the ocean cliffs, and there discovers Mark preparing to light the beacon. Mark and Thizra declare their love for each other (there's a lot of backstory here), Thizra ignites the light and the two lovers run off together. In the last act, the villagers capture them, and a trial is held in a seaside cave. Found guilty of betraying the community, the lovers are left to drown as the tide rises.
Smyth's musical language draws from the 19th century, with passages evoking the best of Verdi and some of the sensual, exotic flavor of Bizet's Carmen. Smyth has a wonderful lyric sense – there are melodies you will be humming as you leave the theatre – and vividly employs color and texture, using the orchestra to create evocative moods, such as the musical description of the rugged coast, in the Prelude to Act II, "On the Cliffs of Cornwall."
The plot owes much to Verdi's Aida, a story of forbidden love, with the couple entombed for a slow death at the end. With its featured love triangle (there are some inevitable complications) the libretto does not reveal any indication of Smyth's own lesbian identity.
Smyth was open about her identity as a "Sapphist" (to use a term of the era). Her attraction to the militant suffrage leader Emmeline Pankhurst was part of her inspiration to devote the years 1911-12 to suffrage advocacy. While enamored with Woolf, Smyth persuaded her to speak at a feminist event, resulting in the essay that Woolf would expand into her book Three Guineas. Throughout her life Smyth had many passions and "passionettes" (her playful term).
So might it be possible after all to interpret The Wreckers as a lesbian love story? With the two outsiders persecuted by the larger community, it clearly can be read as a parable of a Sapphist or queer couple, attempting to bring light (=tolerance) into the world. But that selfish world is determined to punish the lovers. If we simply view Mark as a dyke, then, this is an obvious reading.
And, it will be easy for us to draw our own interpretations, since the opera is being given in a concert version: without scenery, costumes or staging. But maybe the ASO's effort will inspire a staged performance. In 1994 I heard a performance of The Wreckers in London, as part of the well-known summer Proms festival. This was also a concert version, and led to the release of a CD of the opera. Directed by Odaline de la Martinez http://www.lontano.co.uk/odaline.html, this recording is still commercially available. Smyth has received more recognition in Great Britain than in the U.S., due largely to the devoted work of de la Martinez and other talented advocates. It is finally time for the U.S. to notice this composer. ASO music director Leon Botstein describes The Wreckers, as a “first-class work,” and part of the “operatic repertoire that should be regular.” Will American audiences agree? At last they will be able to find out.
The sultry mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich http://www.katealdrich.com/ will sing the lead, while Richard Cox http://www.cami.com/?cat=Vocal&webid=1729 is her tenor love interest. The performance takes place Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 3:00 PM in Avery Fischer Hall (Lincoln Center), New York, NY. Tickets may be purchased on the ASO website, http://www.americansymphony.org/ or by calling (212) 868-9276.
|
