Retrospect Opera

27/02/2026

The "lost" Hot Potatoes Fanfare by Dame Ethel Smyth has recently been revived. See this article by Chris Wiley for The Conversation:
https://theconversation.com/how-i-brought-a-lost-fanfare-by-ethel-smyth-back-to-life-276479

Smyth previously quoted the same fanfare in the Overture to her final opera, Entente Cordiale. To support our recording of that opera: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/entente-cordiale/

My project demonstrates the creative possibilities for bringing back music assumed to be lost to history.

22/12/2025

As the festive season approaches, here's a throwback to the release earlier in the year of our recording of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and Granville Bantock's Celtic folk opera The Seal-Woman.

While it's too late now to place an order for the CD as a stocking-filler for a loved one, The Seal-Woman and all 12 releases in our catalogue remain available at our online shop: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/shop/

If you're planning a break from work this Christmas and might have the time and inclination to find out more about Retrospect Opera's latest release, why not read Chris Wiley's recent article about Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (pictured) and The Seal-Woman?

Published in the Journal of the The International Alliance for Women in Music, it is currently freely available online at this link (see pages 3-11 of the journal):https://iawm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/iawm-journal-vol31-no3-2025-Final.pdf

As Chris writes:

'Kennedy-Fraser was not merely the librettist for the opera The Seal-Woman; her work in gathering and arranging Hebridean folksong was absolutely fundamental to its composition, and its score was heavily dependent on these materials. [...]

Retrospect Opera’s recording offers a timely opportunity not just to discover The Seal-Woman, but also to recognize and celebrate the full extent of Kennedy-Fraser’s pivotal influence on the opera’s creation and performance, extending to the libretto, the score, and the premiere production.'



https://retrospectopera.org.uk/the-seal-woman/
Retrospect Opera

08/12/2025

The team at Retrospect Opera wish all those interested in British opera a Merry Christmas!

2025 has been very busy and we have exciting things to announce in the New Year - watch this space!

Don't forget, our CDs (including Christmas Gambols, below) make great stocking-fillers - https://retrospectopera.org.uk/shop/ is where you need to go.

27/09/2025

'Retrospect's CD issue, recorded clearly in Glasgow's Scottish Opera Production Studios, offers winning advocacy. [...] the company has excelled itself by providing a lavishly illustrated booklet for The Seal-Woman, sporting the full libretto and three substantial essays'

- Christopher Webber, Opera magazine, November 2025

08/09/2025

Limelight magazine Editor's Choice - October 2025
Review of Kennedy-Fraser and Bantock's The Seal-Woman (Retrospect Opera, 2025)

Read the full review by Clive Paget (8 September 2025): https://limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/bantock-the-seal-woman-scottish-opera-john-andrews/

'Bantock’s one and only opera deserves its haunting debut on disc [...] this recording of his only foray into opera especially welcome [...] It’s all brought to life beautifully by conductor John Andrews who achieves as effective a balance between melodic reflection and narrative thrust as you might hope for.

A fine cast is headed by Australian mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby as the titular Seal-Woman. Singing with unforced power and heartfelt sympathy, she paints a portrait that is sensual, wistful and elemental all at once. She’s nicely complemented by Scottish soprano Catriona Hewitson as her sparky Seal-Sister, and by Yvonne Howard as the shadowy Cailleach, her rich lower register warmly resonant and her diction perfectly suited to her narrative role.

Seumas Begg’s fresh, lyrical tenor really makes you root for the heartsick Islesman determined to carry home his seal maiden. Like the rest of the cast, he’s a natural storyteller. Arthur Bruce and Christian Loizou are easy-on-the-ear and natural fits for his two fellow fishermen, the latter doubling as a lovelorn Water-Kelpie. Eve Pearson Maxwell, Caitlin Mackenzie and Amy Karensa sing sweetly as the three Swan-Maidens, and the Gaelic is convincingly done throughout.

Recorded in meticulous sound and perfectly balanced, The Seal-Woman is a delightful and tuneful find and well worth a listen.'

10/08/2025

Congratulations to our Founder and former Trustee Andy King who, with Campbell Price, gave the Keynote on 'Oscar Wilde, Granville Bantock and The Sphinx' at the International Society for the Study of Egyptomania conference this weekend: https://www.issegyptomania.com/

While modern Egyptomania is often dated to the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, which ignited a craze in fashion, art and music, Oscar Wilde's fascination with Egypt commenced somewhat earlier, seen for instance in his poem 'The Sphinx' in 1894.

Granville Bantock's interest in exotic subjects is discernible both in his engagement with Celtic Revival - which led to the opera recorded for our most recent release, The Seal-Woman (1924), composed in collaboration with Marjory Kennedy-Fraser - but also with other areas of the world, including his orchestral song-cycle on Wilde's 'The Sphinx' in 1941.

Images of Egypt are also seen in Oscar Wilde's short story The Happy Prince (1888), which provided the inspiration for another Retrospect Opera release, Liza Lehmann's recitation The Happy Prince (1908), which we coupled with Ethel Smyth's opera Fête Galante (1923).

To purchase The Seal-Woman: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/product/the_seal-woman/

To purchase The Happy Prince and Fête Galante: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/product/fete-galante/

08/08/2025

'it has been admirably served by Retrospect Opera with this first complete recording ... heroic efforts behind this undertaking - and the superlative performances by all concerned ... I have to salute the young tenor Seumas Begg for his sterling portrayal of the hapless Islesman, and conductor John Andrews marshals his Scottish troops with brilliance.'

— Review of Kennedy-Fraser and Bantock's The Seal-Woman by Geraint Lewis, Gramophone

07/08/2025

‘All credit to Retrospect Opera [...] Yvonne Howard is in fine voice as The Cailleach [...] Seumas Begg, a heldentenor in the making, tackles the Islesman with determination [...] Best of all is Catherine Carby as the seal woman turned bride – there’s heft and delicacy in a performance that is somehow suffused with Hebridean sadness.’

- Review of Kennedy-Fraser and Bantock's The Seal-Woman by Christopher Cook for BBC Music Magazine, 7 August 2025

Yvonne Howard, Cath­er­ine Carby, Catri­ona Hewit­son, Seu­mas Begg, Arthur Bruce, Chris­tian Loizou et al; Orches­tra of Scot­tish Opera/ John Andrews Ret­ro­spect Opera RO012 137:15 mins (2CD) All credit to Ret­ro­spect Opera for res­cuing...

01/08/2025

'Retrospect Opera has an excellent track record in recording largely unknown British operas: this latest release is not a disappointment'

'Yvonne Howard ... is a stalwart of the UK operatic scene; her perfect diction and warm tones make her ideal for this important role.'

'Catherine Carby ... is touching as the Seal-Woman, the object of the Islesman’s desire.

The latter is sung by Scottish tenor Seumas Begg, who presents an affecting and wholly believable performance. All the smaller roles are admirably taken. Conductor John Andrews leads his forces in a well-shaped reading of the score.'

- Review of Kennedy-Fraser and Bantock's The Seal-Woman by Philip Reed, Opera Now, 31 July 2025

27/07/2025

"Throughout the performance is well played and sung [...] The extensive booklet notes are thorough and absorbing. This was clearly a labour of love [...] there’s no question it is good to have this extremely enterprising release"

- Review of Kennedy-Fraser and Bantock's The Seal-Woman by Kevin Mandry for British Music Society, 18 July 2025

Decades ago there was a short-lived production of The Seal Woman in West London, which somehow eluded me: I’ve been waiting many years to discover what I’d missed...

22/07/2025

in 1925, Smyth's last opera, Entente Cordiale, was premiered in a student production at the Royal College of Music, London, in a double-bill with Smyth's penultimate opera, Fête Galante, with the composer conducting. The worst thunderstorm of the year was raging outside and the orchestra pit flooded!

To commemorate this centenary, our own Chris Wiley has written an article on Smyth's neglected final opera and its premiere production, which has just gone to press with Opera Magazine with Opera News and will be hitting the shelves very soon!

For further information and to donate to our upcoming recording of Entente Cordiale, please see: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/entente-cordiale/

21/07/2025

Our wonderful conductor for our Ethel Smyth releases, Odaline de la Martinez, appeared on 'In Tune' on BBC Radio 3 this evening ahead of the Pegasus Opera production of Smyth's Fete Galante at the Royal College of Music later in the week, which she is conducting (this week sees the centenary of Fete Galante having been produced at the Royal College of Music on 22-23 July 1925). Two tracks from the Retrospect Opera recording of the opera were broadcast as part of the interview. Listen from 1.29.25 here:

Katie Derham welcomes Marios Papadopoulos, Alison Buchanan and Odaline de la Martinez.