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Wreckers
November 2006
Duchy Opera has never been a company to shy away from challenging works or challenging themselves! For many years it had been an ambition to stage a production of Ethel Smyth's The Wreckers and with 2006 being the centenary of its first performance, it was deemed too good an opportunity to miss.
An opera in three acts with a libretto by Harry Brewster, it was composed in 1903-1904 and premiered on 11th November 1906 in Leipzig.
It is an opera that is well known for being written by a woman but it is less well known that her influences were Wagner, Brahms and Richard Strauss. It is an energetic and dramatic work with strong characterisation set in a Cornish community on the brink of famine. Ethel Smyth had visited Cornwall on numerous occasions and felt very passionate about the county and its people. Her research took many years and it was only on reflection of her times in Cornwall that the dramatic structure of the story become clear. She liked to explore smuggler's caves and whilst on Tresco visited Piper's Hole, which made a lasting impression and where she set the dramatic final third act. Her work on the opera is well chronicled in her extensive writing and her published diaries.
This revival prompted a debate in Cornwall over whether the Cornish people actually participated in the luring of ships onto the rocks in order to plunder their cargo. Much has been written on the subject, both fact and fiction, but one thing is certain, the majority of Cornish people daily risked their lives to save others in stormy conditions without a thought for their own safety and were always keen to help clean up the shoreline when the storm had passed.
This opera is a milestone in the development of British music, no other composer either male or female, had written an opera drawing on themes from a particular geographical location within the UK before. Ethel Smyth was born in Sidcup and was a woman ahead of her time. A prominent feminist and crusader for women's suffrage she composed The March of the Women in 1911 which became the battle song of the Women's Social and Political Union. Whilst there had been female English composers in the 18th Century and a handful in Victorian times, none had attempted to break into the male dominated world of large-scale grand opera until Ethel Smyth.
 Although The Wreckers has a Cornish theme, it had never before been performed in Cornwall and it's somewhat contentious wrecking theme provided a local context for the production and provided scope for community involvement. A special programme of events ran throughout the county including a one woman show, Essentially Ethel based on her many books of memoirs and performed by Gill Stoker. School projects involving children of all ages discussing the topic of Wreck or Rescue and other young adults were involved in the design of the set and costumes, as well as working with professional singers and directors. There was an exhibition of Maritime and Wrecking paintings at the Lander Gallery in Truro, a weekend of vocal masterclasses, and a debate event scheduled for later in the year. The culmination of all these events was the performance of the opera in November at the Hall for Cornwall in the heart of Truro with the last performance falling on 11th November, exactly 100 years to the day of it's first performance in Leipzig.
To fulfill this ambitious project Duchy Opera invited Director, David Sulkin - well known for his ground breaking work in theatre and opera for children and young people and founder director of the Baylis Programme at English National Opera - to spearhead a production team whose expertise and skills helped bring to life this neglected but outstanding work. A very important figure in this team was Paul Drayton Musical Director.
This exciting production was a milestone in Duchy Opera's history - it honoured the past whilst looking to the future. Duchy Opera has a proud history of bringing grand opera to Cornwall, not only at the Hall for Cornwall, but also touring throughout the county ensuring smaller communities have the opportunity to experience some of the most moving music to have ever been written for the human voice.
Whether you already love opera or will be experiencing it for the first time, if ever there was a time to discover Duchy Opera and the passion, drama and joy of singing - this is it!
Did you see 'The Wreckers'? Please help us by completing our questionnaire - click here to download the questionaire - and email it back to : info@duchyopera.co.uk
With grateful thanks to our Sponsors
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