# The Wreckers



## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

In the 19th century, "wrecking" was fairly commonplace in poor Cornish villages on the rugged Atlantic coast. The inhabitants would plunder ships that crashed on the rocks, often "finishing off" the crew. It is rumored that villagers sometimes deliberately caused passing ships to wreck on their shores, either by extinguishing the beacons meant to guide ships safely through dangerous waters, or by setting "false lights" to lure the vessels to destruction.

This world is the backdrop of English composer Ethel Smyth's third opera. Smyth began composing the work around the turn of the 20th century, after visiting sea caves in Cornwall and hearing stories of wreckers along the coast. The libretto, by Smyth's friend Henry Brewster, was originally written in French, but the opera ended up premiering in Leipzig in a German translation. It had its English premier at Covent Garden in 1909, with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting (in English, as were subsequent productions). Mahler was considering a production in Vienna, right before he was driven out of office.

The fictional Cornish village of The Wreckers is led by a pastor, Pascoe, who tells his congregation that God sends them ships to wreck. His much-younger wife, Thirza, is a black sheep in the village because she has been refusing to associate with the villagers. She is looked on as a snob, but we learn that her anti-social tendencies are really due to her horror at the people's wrecking. Suspicion is rising in the village because someone has apparently been secretly lighting beacons that keep the ships safely away from the rocks. Interfering with the wrecking is treated as a terrible crime.

(Spoilers ahead, if you care.)

Unbeknownst to Pascoe, his wife is in love with a young fisherman named Mark, and it is this Mark who has been lighting the beacons, originally at Thirza's urging. The forbidden lovers of course end up in hot water, due partly to the actions of Mark's jealous ex-girlfriend, and things don't turn out too well for anybody.

The themes of the opera have definite contemporary relevance. I'd like to quote Leon Botstein's program notes from the American Symphony Orchestra's production because he says it better than I would:



> The story Smyth chose to set presents a tale that should be of intense interest to contemporary audiences. It concerns an isolated community in Cornwall that possesses a religiously based fanatical self-regard that leads it to justify theft and murder as God-given rights and virtues. Led by its own pastor who invokes Christianity, violence becomes the instrument of realizing God's will. The opera depicts the consequences of mass hysteria and populist justice, Draconian in its nature against those who resist the imposition of a moral code based solely on perceived divine, not human, justice. The toxic roots of this fanaticism are ignorance, poverty, and economic despair.


The music showcases Smyth's love of lush, colorful orchestration and her penchant for drama. It blends rich, chromatic, late-romantic harmonies with melodies inspired by English folk music. It's got beautiful love songs, terrific choruses by the scary mob of villagers, and culminates very dramatically in a sea-cave. There is only one complete commercial recording (Proms). I recommend it. Here are some clips from Youtube.




































I've been mentioning this opera all over the place lately, so I thought I'd better just get it all over with in one spot. I may or may not be done now.


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)

Meaghan,

Thank you for posting this thread. I have heard of this opera but have never heard of it. I am a little pressed for time at the moment, but I will watch the videos as soon as I get a chance. Today has been a day when nothing went right. From what yu wrote of the plot I am reminded of' a movie from the 50's, I think, called Whisky Galore. It was about a ship which ran aground off a Scottish island and the villagers "rescued" its cargo of whisky. I look forward to watching it.

Rob


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Composed by woman? Sung in english? Och, well <makes foppish gesture> maybe another time <walks away gracefully smelling a rose>


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

The story is also reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel Jamaica Inn. That book has had several stage and screen adaptations, the most famous probably being Alfred Hitchcock's 1939 film of the same name starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Composed by woman? Sung in english? Och, well <makes foppish gesture> maybe another time <walks away gracefully smelling a rose>


Yes, I think that's what most of the impresarios of a hundred years ago said/did. At least about the "composed by a woman" part. Oh well, their loss.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

One of the videos was broken earlier today (the sixth one), but it is fixed now.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Mm, English opera? SEA? WANT!

...after I finish ADWD. IF I'm still intact and not like "OMG he killed another Stark".


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

There is a recording of "The Wreckers" taken from a live performance at the Proms in London from about a decade ago on one of the smaller English labels whose name I can't recall off hand, and I heard it. It was in my local library whereIi used to live on Long Island.
In fact, I requested a librarian to aquire it for the library. 
I don't remember the names of the cast, but they were not stellar names,although still excellent,and the conductor is Odaline De La Martinez. Chances are this CD is no longer available, but you could check arkivmusic.com, the best website if you're looking for hard to find classical CDs.
The Wreckers enjoyed a brief period of popularity in European opera houses in its day, and was conducted by no less a figure than Bruno Walter ! 
Incidentally, Smyth wrote the only opera by a woman composer ever performed at the Metropolitan opera, set to a libretto in German.It's called "Der Wald"(The forest), 
but has fallen into oblivion.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

superhorn said:


> There is a recording of "The Wreckers" taken from a live performance at the Proms in London from about a decade ago on one of the smaller English labels whose name I can't recall off hand, and I heard it. It was in my local library whereIi used to live on Long Island.
> In fact, I requested a librarian to aquire it for the library.
> I don't remember the names of the cast, but they were not stellar names,although still excellent,and the conductor is Odaline De La Martinez. Chances are this CD is no longer available, but you could check arkivmusic.com, the best website if you're looking for hard to find classical CDs.
> The Wreckers enjoyed a brief period of popularity in European opera houses in its day, and was conducted by no less a figure than Bruno Walter !
> ...


Yes, that Proms recording is the only commercial recording, as far as I know. And you can still buy it--it's easy to find on Amazon--but it's a little on the expensive side.

I knew that _Der Wald_ was the _first_ opera by a woman performed at the Met, but is it really the only? That surprises me. And do you know if a recording exists?


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Yes. So far,this is the only opera by a woman composer to be performed by the Met. 
I don't believe it has been recorded, and as far as I know. it has not been revived anywhere since the Met premiere. But you never know when it might be revived.
Possibly the Met will do an opera by a woman composer sometime soon. 
The Finnish composer kaaia Saariaho (1952-) has had considerable success with her 
French-language opera L'Amour Du Loin(Love from afar) ,which is based on a medieval legend of a French nobleman who falls in love with a beautiful Moorish woman but strives in vain to meet her. There is a DVD of a live performance from Paris conducted by fellow Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen which I have not seen, and a CD conducted by Kent Nagano ,which I have heard. It's very interesting, but don't expect any hummable melodies !


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

I like most of the Saariaho I've heard, including vocal music. I would like to listen to this opera when I get the chance. She _is_ interesting (as well as un-hummable).


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