Met Opera Enchanted Island .... Looking forward

For my review of the Met Opera Live in HD performance, published 25th Jan 2012, the link is here
http://annez-reflectionz.blogspot.com/2012/01/enchanted-island-met-opera-live-in-hd.html


UPDATE 18TH JANUARY 2012
Just found this so had to update this post, just ahead of the Live in HD in cinemas screening this coming Saturday - a little snippet to truly savour


The incredible Joyce DiDonato singing Maybe soon, maybe now - she totally blows me away with this, her incredible voice control just leaves me breathless!!

 Can't you just feel the passion in that! WOW!

UPDATE 11TH JANUARY 2012

Great article in The Guardian gives fascinating insight from creator Jeremy Sams
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jan/10/enchanted-island-met-opera-baroque?CMP=twt_fd

and another article in The Telegraph - UK press seems to be getting excited too ahead of the Met Live in HD broadcast on 21st January
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9001969/Jeremy-Sams-A-perfect-storm-of-brilliance.html

Joyce DiDonato and Luca Pisaroni host a Q&A session for school kids - it's a delightful video with peeks of backstage goings-on and thoooooose eyelashes - goooooooooooo Joyce and Luca

UPDATE 1st JANUARY 2012:
Listened to the World Premiere of Enchanted Island broadcast on Met Radio 31st December/1st January. Seeing in the New Year listening to an opera world premiere - wow - no, make that WOW - it sounded FABULOUS, now I know exaaaactly why Joyce DiDonato has been getting so excited during rehearsals. Her aria "Maybe soon, maybe now" (no.4 on the music list below)  just blew me away - she was incredible as were the whole cast and I loved the music. I found it very helpful to print out the music list and follow that as there were no visuals to be following - as no. 21 - Zadok The Priest (Neptune The Great) on the music list approached - "Inspired" was what penned in on music sheet here -  I couldn't help feeling something very special was coming up - the arrival of Neptune (Placido Domingo) on stage, understand from the interval commentators there were some pretty amazing visuals were going on here as well - can't wait to see the Live in HD performance - the audience went wild with appreciation here and it was so obviously a resounding success in house throughout judging by the audience enthusiasm who were seemingly beside themselves to give a massive ovation at the end even before the last notes of the orchestra had finished.

LIVE IN HD PERFORMANCE AROUND THE WORLD 21ST JANUARY 2012

(Any updates added to bottom of post - added 28.12.11 - exciting tweet from Joyce DiDonato)

Lots of news coming out during rehearsals for this new production - a mash-up of Shakespeare's The Tempest and Midsummer Nights dream plays set to music (Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau) and song - premieres at The Met on 31st December 2011 and due to be screened around  the world Live in HD on 21st January 2012. The Met have now provided a running list of the music used, for the most part all unknown to me, but looking down the list you get an idea of how the story unfolds and it sounds mouthwateringly fascinating - I'll gradually try to gather some more of the snippets together and post them here in an effort to build up a picture of what we can expect - I did see an interview with some members of the cast which confirmed that this will be sung in English. I follow Joyce DiDonato's (Joyce plays the witch Sycorax) Facebook page (  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joyce-DiDonato/207466962440 ) and she's getting very excited about the production and it sounds like she's having loads of fun too, and WOW, just look at her costume in the pic above! I don't know about Joyce getting excited, I'm getting really excited too!

Lots more information contained in this great article in The New York Times - The Met's Gleeful Baroque Mash-Up  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/arts/music/the-enchanted-island-a-baroque-mash-up-at-the-met.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

More info in this article here too and an even better look at that amazing costume! Joyce DiDonato to spend New Year’s Eve working  magic  with Placido Domingo at the Met in ‘Enchanted Island http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/joyce-didonato-spend-year-eve-working-magic-placido-domingo-met-enchanted-island-article-1.995467?localLinksEnabled=false


The cast:

Ariel: Danielle de Niese
Miranda: Lisette Oropesa
Sycorax: Joyce DiDonato
Prospero: David Daniels
Ferdinand: Anthony Roth Costanzo
Neptune: Plácido Domingo
Caliban: Luca Pisaroni

Link to video webcast, which included arias and duets by countertenor David Daniels, sopranos Danielle de Niese, Layla Claire and Lisette Oropesa, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, as well as conversations with creator Jeremy Sams, conductor William Christie and the director-designer team of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch.
http://www.wqxr.org/#/articles/wqxr-features/2011/dec/06/wqxrs-met-opera-preview-enchanted-island/



The music - WOW at no. 21!!!!


Overture
George Frideric Handel: Alcina, HWV 34


Act I
1. "My Ariel" (Prospero, Ariel) – "Ah, if you would earn your freedom" (Prospero)
Antonio Vivaldi: Cessate, omai cessate, cantata, RV 684, "Ah, ch’infelice sempre"

2. "My master, generous master – I can conjure you fire" (Ariel)
Handel: Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, oratorio, HWV 46a, Part I, "Un pensiero nemico di pace"

3. "Then what I desire" (Prospero, Ariel)

4. "There are times when the dark side – Maybe soon, maybe now" (Sycorax, Caliban)
Handel: Teseo, HWV 9, Act V, Scene 1, "Morirò, ma vendicata"

5. "The blood of a dragon – Stolen by treachery" (Caliban)
Handel: La Resurrezione, oratorio, HWV 47, Part I, Scene 1, "O voi, dell’Erebo"

6. "Miranda! My Miranda!" (Prospero, Miranda) – "I have no words for this feeling" (Miranda)
Handel: Notte placida e cheta, cantata, HWV 142, "Che non si dà"

7. "My master’s books" – "Take salt and stones" (Ariel)
Based on Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les fêtes d’Hébé, Deuxième entrée: La Musique, Scene 7, "Aimez, aimez d’une ardeur mutuelle"

8. Quartet: "Days of pleasure, nights of love" (Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, Lysander)
Handel: Semele, HWV 58, Act I, Scene 4, "Endless pleasure, endless love"

9. The Storm (chorus) – The Calm
André Campra: Idoménée, Act II, Scene 1, "O Dieux! O justes Dieux!"

10. "I’ve done as you commanded" (Ariel, Prospero)
Handel: La Resurrezione, oratorio, HWV 47, "Di rabbia indarno freme"

11. "Oh, Helena, my Helen – You would have loved this island" (Demetrius)
Handel: La Resurrezione, oratorio, HWV 47, Part I, Scene 2, "Così la tortorella"

12. "Would that it could last forever – Wonderful, wonderful" (Miranda, Demetrius)
Handel: Ariodante, HWV 33, Act I, Scene 5, "Prendi, prendi"

13. "Why am I living?" (Helena)
Handel: Teseo, HWV 9, Act II, Scene 1, "Dolce riposo")
"The gods of good and evil – At last everything is prepared" (Sycorax)
Jean-Marie Leclair: Scylla et Glaucus, Act IV, Scene 4, "Et toi, dont les embrasements… Noires divinités"

14. "Mother, why not? – Mother, my blood is freezing" (Caliban)
Vivaldi: Il Farnace, RV 711, Act II, Scene 5 & 6, "Gelido in ogni vena"

15. "Help me out of this nightmare" – Quintet: "Wonderful, wonderful" (Helena, Sycorax, Caliban, Miranda, Demetrius)
Handel: Ariodante, HWV 33, Act I, Scene 5, recitative preceding "Prendi, prendi"

16. "Welcome Ferdinand – Wonderful, wonderful," reprise (Prospero, Miranda, Demetrius)
"All I’ve done is try to help you" (Prospero)
Vivaldi: Longe mala, umbrae, terrores, motet, RV 629, "Longe mala, umbrae, terrores"

17. "Curse you, Neptune" (Lysander)
Vivaldi: Griselda, RV 718, Act III, Scene 6, "Dopo un’orrida procella"

18. "Your bride, sir? "(Ariel, Lysander, Demetrius, Miranda) – Trio: "Away, away! You loathsome wretch, away!" (Miranda, Demetrius, Lysander)
Handel: Susanna, oratorio, HWV 66, Part II, "Away, ye tempt me both in vain"

19. "Two castaways – Arise! Arise, great Neptune" (Ariel)
Attr. Henry Purcell: The Tempest, or, The Enchanted Island, Z. 631, Act II, no. 3, "Arise, ye subterranean winds"

20. "This is convolvulus" (Helena, Caliban) – "If the air should hum with noises" (Caliban)
Handel: Deidamia, HWV 42, Act II, Scene 4, "Nel riposo e nel contento"

21. "Neptune the Great" (Chorus)
Handel: Four Coronation Anthems, HWV 258, "Zadok the priest"

22. Who dares to call me? (Neptune, Ariel)
Based on Handel: Tamerlano, HWV 18, "Oh, per me lieto"
"I’d forgotten that I was Lord" (Neptune, Chorus)
Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie, Act II, Scene 3, "Qu’a server mon courroux"

23. "We like to wrestle destiny – Chaos, confusion" (Prospero)
Handel: Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11, Act II, Scene 5, "Pena tiranna"


Act II

24. "My God, what’s this? – Where are you now?" (Hermia)
Handel: Hercules, oratorio, HWV 60, Act III, Scene 3, "Where shall I fly?"

25. "So sweet, laughing together – My strength is coming back to me" (Sycorax)
Vivaldi: Argippo, RV 697, Act I, Scene 1, "Se lento ancora il fulmine"

26. "Curses, a fresh disaster" (Ariel, Demetrius, Helena, Caliban) – "A voice, a face, a figure half-remembered" (Helena)
Handel: Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11, Act III, Scene 4, "Hanno penetrato i detti tuoi l’inferno"

27. "His name, she spoke his name" (Caliban)
Handel: Hercules, oratorio, HWV 60, Act III, Scene 2 "O Jove, what land is this? – I rage"

28. "Oh, my darling, my sister – Men are fickle" (Helena, Hermia)
Handel: Atalanta, HWV 35, Act II, Scene 3 – "Amarilli? – O dei!"

29. "I knew the spell" (Sycorax, Caliban) – "Hearts that love can all be broken" (Sycorax)
Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (attr. Handel): Il pianto di Maria, cantata, HWV 234, "Giunta l’ora fatal –Sventurati i miei sospiri"

30. "Such meager consolation – No, I’ll have no consolation" (Caliban)
Vivaldi: Bajazet, RV 703, Act III, Scene 7, "Verrò, crudel spietato"

31. Masque of the Wealth of all the World
a. Quartet: Caliban goes into his dream, "Wealth and love can be thine"
Rameau: Les Indes galantes, Act III, Scene 7, "Tendre amour"
b. Parade
Rameau: Les fêtes d’Hébé, Troisième entrée: Les Dances, Scene 7, Tambourin en rondeau
c. The Women and the Unicorn
Rameau: Les fêtes d’Hébé, Troisième entrée: Les Dances, Scene 7, Musette
d. The Animals
Jean-Féry Rebel: Les Éléments, Act I, Tambourins I & II
e. The Freaks – Chaos
Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie, Act I, Tonnerre
f. Waking
Rameau: Les Indes galantes, Act III, Scene 7, "Tendre amour," reprise

[there is no No. 32]

33. "With no sail and no rudder – Gliding onwards" (Ferdinand)
Handel: Amadigi di Gaula, HWV 11, Act II, Scene 1, "Io ramingo – Sussurrate, onde vezzose"

34. Sextet: "Follow hither, thither, follow me" (Ariel, Miranda, Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, Lysander)
Handel: Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, oratorio, HWV 46a, Part II, Quartet: "Voglio tempo"

35. "Sleep now" (Ariel)
Vivaldi: Tito Manlio, RV 78, Act III, Scene 1, "Sonno, se pur sei sonno"

36. "Darling, it’s you at last" (Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, Helena)
Vivaldi: La verità in cimento, RV 739, Act II, scene 9, "Anima mia, mio ben"

37. "The wat’ry God has heard the island’s pleas" (Chorus)
Handel: Susanna, oratorio, HWV 66, Part III, "Impartial Heav’n!"

38. "Sir, honored sir – I have dreamed you" (Ferdinand, Miranda)
Handel: Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi, cantata, HWV 197, "Ma se l’alma sempre geme"

39. "The time has come. The time is now" ("Maybe soon, maybe now," reprise) (Sycorax)
Handel: Teseo, HWV 9, Act V, Scene 1, "Morirò, ma vendicata"

40. "Enough! How dare you?" (Prospero, Neptune) – "You stand there proud and free – You have stolen the land" (Neptune)
Rameau: Castor et Pollux, Act V, Scene 1, "Castor revoit le jour"

41. "Lady, this island is yours" (Prospero, Caliban, Ariel) – "Forgive me, please forgive me" (Prospero)
Handel: Partenope, HWV 27, Act III, Scene 4, "Ch’io parta?"

42. "We gods who watch the ways of man" (Neptune, Sycorax, Chorus)
Handel: L’allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, HWV 55, Part I, "Come, but keep thy wonted state – Join with thee"

43. "This my hope for the future" (Prospero) – "Can you feel the heavens are reeling" (Ariel)
Vivaldi: Griselda, RV 718, Act II, scene 2, "Agitata da due venti"

44. "Now a bright new day is dawning" (Ensemble)
Handel: Judas Maccabaeus, oratorio, HWV 63, Part III, "Hallelujah"


http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/enchanted-island-music.aspx

28th December 2011
Found these lil things attached to one of Joyce DiDonato's latest tweets - aren't they just fascinating! I shall be looking out for all three pairs during the performance - have appointed myself official fake eyelash checker! (I was official shoe checker for Met's Live in HD Faust - OK Jonas, I gotcha) Do love the ones with sparkly gold bits! Can't wait for her transformations!

In what MAY be a record for the @metopera this is officially a 3-lash show for yours truly! 
http://twitpic.com/7zrbaj Joyce DiDonato


A tweet from Luca Pisaroni directed me to this vid clip on youtube which shows the amazing transformation he makes to become Caliban - here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDeJTMSfhE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL