Christopher Wiley

Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) has come to renewed international attention in recent
years for her pivotal position in the history of early twentieth-century British opera.
Her six contributions to the genre fall neatly into two groups: the serious, strongly
German-influenced operas Fantasio (1892–4), Der Wald (1899–1901) and The
Wreckers (1902–4); and her one-act works aligned with English light opera, The
Boatswain’s Mate (1913–14), Fête Galante (1921–2) and Entente Cordiale (1923–4).
The Wreckers, her most ambitious undertaking, enjoyed high-profile productions in
2022 on both sides of the Atlantic, courtesy of Glyndebourne and Houston Grand
Opera. In the past decade, The Boatswain’s Mate, and latterly Fête Galante and Der
Wald, have also been revived multiple times in Switzerland, Canada, Germany and
the UK. Recordings of these four works are commercially available, yet her first- and
lastborn remain virtually ungraced by modern realisations.