1. 1. “The Wreckers”

   September 30 at Avery Fisher Hall

   Dame Ethel Smyth counted Brahms, Grieg, and Britten among her friends. Her 1906 opera—considered a pre­cursor to Britten’s modern master­work, Peter Grimes—now gets the grand presentation it deserves.

2. 2. “Julia”

   September 26 and 29 at Symphony Space

   Julia Ward Howe may be called “one-note Julia” for her single famed work—“The Battle Hymn of the Republic”—but composer Henry Papale gets quite a few more into this opera about Howe and her devotion to Civil War–era radicalism.

Related:

• Articles by Rebecca Milzoff
• Table of Contents: Oct 1, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!