The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music review: This Saturday’s “Met Live in HD” broadcast features “The Enchanted Island,” an acclaimed baroque opera pastiche – with music by Handel, Vivaldi and Rameau, and with characters and a plot drawn from Shakespeare. It sounds like a MUST-SEE and MUST-HEAR.

By Jacob Stockinger

This season has once again been a good one for the series “Live From the Met in HD.” For one, it will see the last two installments of Richard Wagner’s ambitious “Ring” cycle.

Take a look for yourself. Here is a link to the season’s website:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx

But even more exciting for The Ear is the satellite broadcast of “The Enchanted Island” (below) this Saturday at 11:55 CST at the Point and Eastgate cinemas in Madison. Tickets are $24 for adults, $22 for seniors. (Unfortunately, there is no encore presentation.)

This is sure to be a lot of people’s idea of “new music.”

A brainchild of the Met’s general director Peter Gelb, “The Enchanted Island” has been in the work for more than four years, and is, if you will, a newly born baroque opera – if you can go backwards in history.

That is because it is a pastiche, a mix or blend, created by Jeremy Sams. It features music selected from Handel, Vivaldi and Rameau. It also takes as main characters the lovers from Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and throws them into the plot of  Shakespeare’s late romance “The Tempest.”

The 3-1/2 hour opera also features a stellar cast, including famed countertenor David Daniels, mezzosoprano Joyce DiDonato, soprano Danielle de Niese and superstar tenor Placido Domingo as King Neptune (below), and the orchestra conducted by early music master William Christie. The sets and costumes look colorful and fantastical.

It all sounds very intriguing and engaging, something that could succeed wildly – or fail miserably.

Well, I am happy to report that the reception has been terrific. Both the opera and the production have met with critical acclaim and success with the public.

Here, for example, are a couple of reviews from the New Year’s Eve world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/arts/music/the-enchanted-island-at-the-metropolitan-opera-review.html?_r=1&ref=anthonytommasini

http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/article/Review-Enchanted-Island-a-clever-Met-concoction-2435476.php

http://metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx

Here are downloadable notes and synopsis:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=437

And here is a link to videos:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/template.aspx?id=15418

And here is a link to a photo essay of stills from “The Enchanted Island”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/jan/11/the-enchanted-island-metropolitan-opera-pictures

And here is a blog posting by the singer and cast member Danielle de Niese, who performed at the Wisconsin Union Theater several seasons ago:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-de-niese/baroque-coming-out-party_b_1177726.html

For background about “The Enchanted Island,” visit:

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/31/144515617/the-enchanted-island-a-mashup-of-classic-masters

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/arts/music/15opera.html

What do you think of “The Enchanted Island” and what its success means?

Would you like to see more such productions?

The Ear wants to hear.