Smyth: Der Wald: An Opera in One Act (CD)

Composer: Ethel Smyth
Artists: Natalya Romaniw, Claire Barnett-Jones, Robert Murray, Andrew Shore, Morgan Pearse, Matthew Brook, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: John Andrews
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Resonus
Release Date: August 11, 2023

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.

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