Strandrecht

In the organizer's words:

A small fishing village in Cornwall, very close to a steep rocky coast. The poor, God-fearing villagers live off what the sea gives them. But as their living situation becomes increasingly precarious, they start to help out: On stormy nights, they put out the fire in the lighthouse to make approaching ships run aground. They murder the crew and plunder the flotsam - thus securing a seemingly reliable source of income. But for some time now, the shipwrecks have stopped. The villagers sense a traitor among them, who secretly lights beacons to warn the ships approaching the coast. Resistance to the brutal practice is mounting - and calls into question all the principles of coexistence in the village community.

Ethel Smyth's Strandrecht tells the story of a community whose unity is torn apart by conflicting moral concepts, peer pressure, fear and love. In doing so, she paints a precise picture of a tragic social and interest conflict that ultimately costs the lives of two people. Smyth's far too rarely performed third opera is an insider tip among opera lovers: breathtaking, stirring music in the spirit of Wagner and Strauss, tempestuous soundscapes and a passionate love story. Smyth herself was one of the most famous composers of the early 20th century and just as tempestuous as her opera: a pioneer of the British women's rights movement and imprisoned several times for it, with an exuberant temperament and unafraid to swim against the tide. Now her opera will be performed for the first time in Schwerin in a visually stunning and atmospheric production by Daniela Kerck, who is making her debut in Schwerin.