By Jill Norgren

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 2011-2012 season with a World Premiere production of The Enchanted Island, an enthusiastically received operatic pastiche.

The Met describes this much heralded new production as one in which “lovers of Baroque opera have it all: the world’s best singers, glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare.” In this case the public relations talk does not lie. This operatic pasticcio, drawing upon music composed by Handel, Vivaldi, and Rameau is a harvest basket of delights.

On Saturday, January 21, opera lovers around the world, including this reviewer, were able to see and hear the production in movie theaters as an HD Live (simulcast) performance. The story, drawing upon A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, opens with Prospero, the aging, exiled Duke of Milan plotting to win a husband for Miranda, his daughter and, not coincidentally, restore himself to society. Guile, sorcery, love, and rejection mark the opera’s action, expressed in arias and duets with the occasional appearance of the chorus.

The stellar cast includes countertenor David Daniels (Prospero), mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (Sycorax the island sorceress), Plácido Domingo as Neptune, lyric soprano Danielle de Niese (Ariel, a sprite servant), and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni (Caliban, son of Sycorax). Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo sing the roles of Miranda and Ferdinand, the man Prospero wishes Miranda to marry.

The cast is asked to sing, dance, and entrance. They do it with aplomb. Beautiful singing marks the production: DiDonato is outstanding, Domingo defies the years with his seemingly effortless excellence, and de Niese steals the first act with her impish portrayal and fine singing. Daniels is in fine voice, although the mix of the countertenor sound with Prospero’s macho, scheming persona strains the imagination. In contrast, the sweet countertenor voice of Anthony Roth Costanzo, singing the role of the young Ferdinand, fits beautifully with the romantic posture of a suitor. The young Italian Luca Pisaroni, fresh from his success singing Leporello, creates a starkly tragic Caliban, etching sorrow and anger into the notes of his arias.

Enchanted Island showcases an all-new English libretto by Jeremy Sams, who worked with the Baroque specialist William Christie. The latter, as conductor, performs his own magic with the wonderful Met orchestra. The costumes dazzle; the stage setting is inventive, and far more satisfying than several of the Met’s recent confections.

The Met: Live in HD permits opera lovers to have a front row seat for twenty or twenty-five dollars, rather than the one or two hundred paid for the best seating at in-house performances. These theater simulcast programs are part of an effort initiated by Met general manager Peter Gelb, who hopes to bring opera to more people living on limited budgets as well as to enthusiasts who live far from New York City.

Now several years old, HD Live is itself a smash hit, reaching new audiences and broadening the appeal of opera. Initially, opera lovers asked whether it would be pleasurable to watch productions on a big screen. Millions have answered, “yes!” and surely await the Met’s decision to make these operas available on DVDs.

A few live opera house performances of The Enchanted Island remain this season and, according to internet information, there will be an encore HD Live performance of the opera at theaters in the United States on February 8 at 6:30 pm (EST) and in Canada on March 3 and March 26, also 6:30 pm (EST time). Check your local listings and don’t miss it.

©2012 Jill Norgren for SeniorWomen.com

Editor's Note: We also noticed products in the Met online Store related to this opera.