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Ethel Smyth - The Boatswain's Mate (320kbps .mp3)
Katie Derham introduces this week's Thursday Opera Matinée: Ethel Smyth's comic opera The Boatswain's Mate, one of six she wrote between the 1890s and 1920s.
Smyth's previous opera The Wreckers was very much in touch with the Late Romantic musical world of Germany; the music in The Boatswain's Mate is by contrast more simple and folk-like, with some wonderfully lyrical and melodious music. The story, setting Smyth's own libretto, focuses on three main characters - a strong widow, Mrs Waters, her unwanted suitor the retired boatswain Harry Benn, and his accomplice Ned Travers.
Katie Derham introduces the first complete recording of this opera, conducted by Odaline de la Martinez.
Mrs Waters.....Nadine Benjamin (soprano)
Harry Benn.....Edward Lee (tenor)
Ned Travers.....Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone)
Policeman.....Simon Wilding (bass)
The Man.....Ted Schmitz (tenor)
Mary Ann.....Rebecca Louise Dale (mezzo soprano)
Chorus.....Mark Nathan and other members of the cast
Lontano Ensemble
Odaline de la Martinez (conductor)
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