Ethel Smyth reviews

Reinhard Wieser, Milena Viotti, Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Michael Korstick; Orchestra Wiener Concert-Verein/Doron Salomon, Israel Chamber Orchestra and Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt/Martin Sieghart (Gramola)

The Boatswain’s Mate and The Wreckers – Overture by Smyth

‘It’s so Ethel!’: those were the words of Odaline de la Martinez, decades ago, enthusing over some characteristic detail from one of the composer’s scores. Lyrically enhanced but low on pugnacity, Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate might not be as ‘Ethel’ in sound, say, as the overture to her grand opera The Wreckers, included as an extra, taken from an old Columbia 78.

Seven Sisters: Chamber Music by British Women

Pianist Diana Ambache and her fine team present an eclectic selection of short works by seven women composers (hence the album’s punning title) – with no two exactly alike in style. The two 19th-century chamber pieces, for instance, are a charming salon-style work by the little-known Rosalind Ellicott, whose expressive lyricism recalls that of Franck; and Ethel Smyth’s eventful Cello Sonata in A minor.

Maude Valerie White, Liza Lehmann, Ethel Smyth, Rebecca Clarke, Phyllis Tote, etc

COLLECTION: IN PRAISE OF WOMEN Songs by Maude Valerie White, Liza Lehmann, Ethel Smyth, Rebecca Clarke, Phyllis Tote, etc Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) Graham Johnson (piano) Hyperion CDA 66709 DDD 78:55 mins £££ X781

Schoeck, Koechlin, Smyth

The established horn concerto repertoire is not that large, so this disc probably doubles it. These three very different but intriguing rarities make for rewarding listening, not least because of the mellifluous tone that Neunecker draws from her instrument. Matthew Rye

Smyth: Piano Trio in D minor; Violin Sonata in A minor; Cello Sonata in A minor

Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) studied in Leipzig and soon made a strong impression as a composer, especially in Germany. She became best known for her operas, Beecham describing her as ‘without question the most remarkable woman that I have been privileged to know’. These early chamber music compositions, written during the 1880s, show that Brahms exerted a significant influence upon her. All three are fluent and strong, and well worth hearing in these idiomatic performances.Terry Barfoot

Smyth: String Quartet in E minor; String Quintet in E

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) studied in Leipzig and soon made her reputation as a composer, especially in Germany. The five-movement Quintet (1884) shows that Brahms exerted a significant influence upon her. The later Quartet, composed through the ten years up to 1912, is rather more sophisticated in its manner of development, including a slow movement which is conceived on an extended scale. The opening of the Quartet is beautifully balanced, and so is the playing, though too few tensions are generated thereafter.

Smyth: Serenade in D; Concerto for Violin & Horn

This arresting disc brings us works from the beginning and end of Smyth’s career, and in both periods she proved capable of delightful surprises and real originality of thought. The Serenade, written when she was 32, formed her introduction to London audiences. It was her first orchestral work, yet breathes a technical assurance and creative maturity which are remarkable.

Smyth: The Wreckers

Ethel Smyth’s opera was written in 1905 and attracted the attention of conductors of the eminence of Mahler and Nikisch, when the composer took it around the opera houses of central Europe in an effort to get it performed.