From 21 May to 24 June 2022, Glyndebourne Festival Opera will present Smyth’s most famous work the way Smyth originally intended it. ‘The Wreckers’ was supposed to be in French – the libretto by Brewster was written in his preferred poetic language and Smyth hoped soprano Calvé and conductor Messager would take it on – but a German premiere necessitated a translation. Now, after painstaking archival research, the team at Glyndebourne has restored the original French libretto and many sections that were cut following the 1906 premiere. The result is supposedly a work with greater nuance and depth than the English version often performed today.
You can learn more about the upcoming production of ‘The Wreckers’ (Les Naufrageurs) and how they restored the original text and music here.
Tickets still available!