Der Wald

Der Wald (The Forest) is an opera in one act by Ethel Smyth to a libretto by Henry Brewster and Smyth, written between 1899 and 1901. It was Smyth's second opera and it was first performed on 2 April 1902 at the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin.

At its Berlin premiere it has been noted that the reception was "lukewarm at best", but it was given performances at the Royal Opera House in London with great success. It was also given in Strasbourg in February 1904, after which it disappeared, "Smyth abandon[ing] Der Wald and the entire proto-Wagnerian genre."

Smyth had hopes of seeing her opera presented in America. After her arrival in New York, she gave an interview to New York World in which she stated:

I have always thought if I did anything worthwhile I should like to see it presented in America. From what I have heard, I hold in regard American treatment and receptivity and shall await American judgment eagerly.

There followed, in an interview in New York with the Evening Sun, a description of how she achieved her goal:

She had crossed the Channel overnight [from London] to catch the Metropolitan's manager, Maurice Grau, in Paris. She reached Paris at 7 in the morning, phoned Grau's hotel at 8, pleading that she had to catch the boat-train home at 11. Catch it she did, signed contract in hand. "I told him it was one act long and could fit on any sort of bill, in any kind of house." She brought clippings and box office statements from the record-setting London premiere with her. "You are certainly a businesslike woman", Grau said.

Smyth's opera was presented at the Metropolitan Opera on 12 March 1903 with Johanna Gadski, Luise Reuss-Belce, David Bispham and Eugène Dufriche, conducted by Alfred Hertz, Der Wald was followed by Verdi’s Il trovatore. Yohalem notes that "it was canny of impresario Maurice Grau to use a brilliantly-cast Trovatore with Lillian Nordica, Louise Homer, Emilio De Marchi, Giuseppe Campanari [and Marcel Journet] as bait to lure an audience to the new work." Der Wald was a popular and financial success for the Met, although critical reaction was not uniformly positive. A second performance, given on 20 March with the same cast, was paired with La fille du régiment with Marcella Sembrich, and the pairing earned more than La fille had done during the previous year when it was presented alongside Pagliacci.

Der Wald remained the only opera by a woman composer to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera until 2016 when Kaija Saariaho's opera L'amour de loin was first performed there.

Smyth describes the story of her opera:

Overall, the New York critics disliked the opera, although some noted her technical skill. However, Yohalem notes "whether the music evidenced "femininity" was a matter of no little disagreement" and he goes on to quote The Telegraph's review:

But, as Yolahem comments, "the most enthusiastic account comes from The Telegraph":

In regard to the quality of the music, The Telegraph continues:

In contrast, The New York Times, was not at all enthusiastic:

Notes

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