OPERA AND SCREEN
reserved until the end of the season, for it means that they impression of a greater faith in their merits, and would enable the company to repeat them more often if the public's response never have a fair chance of establishing themselves in the three or four times, and then to disappear into the limbo of the forefront of the season's repertory, which would give the proved sufficient.
IN accordance with their policy of producing at least one English opera during the season, the management of Sadlees
repertory. The operatic public being what it is—timorous anything by a native composer—the fate of these works, forgotten things. This inevitably suggests failure. There seems no practical reason why these operas should be put in
Wreckers. It seems a pity that these English operas are always
in the face of any new adventure and positively scared of
Wells Theatre have presented Dame Ethel Smyth's The
prepared with so much labour and expense, is to be played
The Wreckers, it should be remembered, was composed
more than thirty years ago. The original text was French,
based upon Henry Brewster's drama, Les Naufrageurs, and
it was designed for presentation at the Opera Comique. This project came to nothing, and the text was translated into German for performance at Leipzig and then into English. It is not surprising, therefore, that the opera bears evidence of its international origin. It was produced at the heyday of Wagner's influence in Europe, and a composer who had received her schooling in Germany could hardly escape that influence. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the opera as a school-work containing only the mannerisms of a greater master. For the Wagnerisms, and especially the use of leitmotives which is not elaborate, are really superficial and beneath the foreign surface of the music there is a solid English
the climaxes, we are so little reminded of Tristan. survivor of his company, cries for his brother officer, and at
The great merit of the libretto is that it tells the story dearly, and that the story itself is excitingly dramatic. We may not find these dour Cornishmen, who mix a bleak fanaticism with a cruelty born of hunger and despair, exactly sympathetic, but there is no denying their intense vitality.
Mark, the hero, is not presented with the same completeness. This is, I fear, a week of monotonous praise. Thanks for His humane revolt against the horrors of wrecking innocent Everything is the funniest film I can remember seeing for men for the sake of what may be salvaged from the sea is many- months, with something of the old Kauffman touch. It insufficiently stated, and Mr. John Wright is not the singer to is a great deal in these days to be made to laugh at the sight make bricks without straw. Thirza's, on the other hand, is of a man in a gas-mask. An advertising agency through a a part to tear a cat in, and there is no one in the company more competition discover a hundred per cent. average American
capable than Miss Coates of making the most of it. (whom they bilk of the prize so as to keep even his income
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