Opera diva Joyce DiDonato to spend New Year’s Eve working magic with Placido Domingo at the Met in ‘Enchanted Island’
Joyce DiDonato will play Sycorax in “The Enchanted Island” at the Met.
Opera star Joyce DiDonato has big plans for New Year’s Eve.
“I am coming back from the dead,” says the mezzo-soprano, “and will end up glowing with resplendent youth.” That trumps watching the Yule Log flicker on TV.
But to be clear, the makeover DiDonato describes happens to Sycorax, the evil sorceress she plays in “The Enchanted Island” at the Metropolitan Opera.
The new production premiering on Dec. 31 is modeled after festive musical entertainments of the 18th century. It features arias sung in English by various composers, chiefly Handel, Rameau and Vivaldi.
The production has been called everything from “fantasia” to “pastiche” to “enchilada.”
Jeremy Sams, who wrote the libretto, prefers “mashup.”
The story merges and massages two popular works by Shakespeare: “The Tempest” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“Characters from one play wander into the other,” says Sams, a director and writer who toggles between film and stage. “It’s a new way to look at old stories.”
As the vengeful Sycorax faces off with the conjurer Prospero (American countertenor David Daniels), magic figures prominently in the production.The creative team was challenged to create eye-popping effects, including a boat in a storm that sinks into the sea.
But things aren’t too dark, says Sams. “Forgiveness is ultimately the message.”
Credit renowned tenor Placido Domingo, who plays Neptune, for helping to foster reconcilation.
“Placido is a sort of facilitator,” says the Kansas-raised DiDonato, adding that he appears in an underwater sequence. Cue mermaids and mermen (seriously).
“Enchanted Island” marks DiDonato’s second Met premiere in 2011. In March, she played one third of a romantic triangle in Rossini’s “Le Compte Ory.”
“The audience came and went along for the ride,” she says. “It was nice to hear them laughing.”
Before “Enchanted Island” debuts, she will perform on Christmas at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. She’s singing ‘O Holy Night,” at midnight Mass.
For DiDonato and her husband, Italian conductor Leonardo Vordoni, it’s the couple’s first Christmas in New York. “I’m so looking forward to spending it in the city,” she says. Same goes for singing Baroque music, which allows for personal interpretation and texture.
“There’s so much freedom,” she says. “So much joy.”
YOU SHOULD KNOW
“The Enchanted Island” runs Dec. 31-Jan. 30. On Jan. 21, it will be shown in theaters as part of the Met’s “Live in HD” series. Go to metopera.org for details.
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