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. Performance history 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] 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.