A wonderful operatic treat!
This baroque pastiche opera, premiered at the Met last New Year's Eve, is a delightful treat for any opera lover, and would serve as a great introduction to opera, since it's in English and features a top-notch cast and design!
The opera takes the plots of Shakespeare's Tempest and the lovers of A Midsummer Night's Dream and conflates them into a rollicking story of shipwreck, mistaken identities, revenge, longing, and finally reconciliation and love. DiDonato's Sycorax is a tour de force, ripping off revenge arias and playing them to the hilt, but with impeccable musciality. If you're a fan of DiDonato, this is a must have. Danielle Di Niesse was a discovery for me in the role of Ariel--her beautiful soprano fills the stage with electricity, and she plays both the serious and comic sides of the magical sprite perfectly. Placido Domingo plays Neptune, the sea God, in a great small role. The rest of the cast is pitch-perfect and strongly cast. It IS a bit long, but with a cast...
Enchanting opera
My husband just adored this opera and had to own it. He watches it over and over. He is an opera buff. I liked much of it, but do not have a full appreciation of the counter tenor voice.
Beware the Bad Reviews
Of the reviews already here, every one that is less than five stars is so because the reviewer is miffed that there isn't yet a Blu-Ray version. So unless you absolutely CANNOT enjoy a splendid production of an extraordinary work in plain old DVD, please realize that the opera presented here is earning a straight five-star rating. Highly recommended.
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