Short Summary
The former Milanese Prospero lives with his daughter Miranda on an unknown island and seeks revenge: his brother Antonio had once overthrown him and driven him out to sea in a boat with the help of the King of Naples. One day, a storm capsizes a passing ship containing all of Prospero's enemies. Ariel, Prospero's air spirit, brings the shipwrecked men to the island. Ferdinand, the son of the King of Naples, and Miranda fall in love. This love makes Prospero's desire for revenge fade and he forgives his adversaries.
The Tempest
Storyline
After Antonio had overthrown his brother Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, he drove him and his three-year-old daughter Miranda out to sea in a boat with the help of the King of Naples.
It was thanks to Gonzalo, the king's advisor, that Prospero and the girl escaped with their lives at all. Out of compassion for the exiles, Gonzalo had provided the boat with sufficient food and Prospero's books. Presumed dead by everyone, Prospero and Miranda finally found refuge on an unknown island, which Prospero subjugated with the help of magic.
About 12 years later: off the island of Prospero, a ship is caught in a sudden heavy storm and capsizes - but the crew and passengers, including Antonio, the King of Naples, and Gonzalo, miraculously make it to shore safely.
Miranda suspects that her father has ignited the storm with magical powers and shows great concern and compassion for the ship's occupants. Prospero reassures her that none of the shipwrecked people will be harmed. At the same time, he speaks to her, who can no longer remember her early childhood, for the first time about Milan, her origins and the machinations of his enemies.
Deeply saddened by what she has heard, Miranda falls asleep. Prospero summons his servant air spirit Ariel and orders him to look after the lives and well-being of the castaways. Now Caliban, the son of the witch Sycorax, the former owner of the island, approaches Prospero: he accuses Prospero of ingratitude and also makes it clear that he would be interested in Miranda as the wife and future mother of his own offspring. Full of disgust and threats, Caliban is rejected by Prospero.
In the meantime, the king's son, Ferdinand, who has also found refuge on the island, separated from his family, meets Miranda. Against Prospero's wishes, the two young people fall in love. As Prospero, driven by a thirst for revenge, only sees Ferdinand as the son of his enemy, Miranda turns against her father for the first time in her life.
The castaways wonder about the island and their rescue, while the king worries about his son Ferdinand, who cannot be found.
Attempts to comfort the king fail, especially as the invisible Ariel skillfully instigates a quarrel between Antonio and Sebastian, or between Antonio and the courtiers.
When Caliban comes to the castaways to incite them against Prospero, he is ridiculed and made drunk with alcohol - they decide to go in search of Ferdinand and only Stefano and Trinculo follow Caliban.
Prospero himself must realize that the mutual love between Ferdinand and Miranda cannot be destroyed and that he has lost power over his own daughter.
Caliban, Stefano and Trinculo - all three drunk - go in search of Prospero to kill him, while Stefano and Caliban each dream of ruling the island and a future together with Miranda.
Meanwhile, the desperate king, convinced of Ferdinand's death, appoints his advisor Gonzalo as his successor in place of his brother Sebastian. When the king and his court fall into a deep sleep shortly afterwards, Antonio and Sebastian decide to assassinate the king and Gonzalo, but the plan is foiled by Ariel, who wakes the sleeping men in time. At the same time, Ariel reminds the king and Antonio of their guilt for having sent Prospero and Miranda to their seemingly certain deaths twelve years ago.
Meanwhile, Prospero accepts Ferdinand and Miranda's love and even asks Miranda for forgiveness - but Miranda once again declares her aversion to the murderous Caliban. When Ariel, deeply moved, points out the grief of the King of Naples and Gonzalo, who are still mourning Ferdinand, Prospero decides to forgive his enemies and put the past behind him:
When those wandering around the island appear before him, he returns Ferdinand to his father, abandons his magic and sets the spirits free. In anticipation of Ferdinand and Miranda's wedding, they all leave the island together on the restored ship - only Caliban stays behind alone.
Canadian director Robert Lepage has been working successfully for many years with Ex Machina, an innovative multidisciplinary company. In this production developed jointly by Lepage and Ex Machina, Prospero recreates La Scala in Milan on his island, where he intends to take revenge on his enemies as a theatrical magician. Each of the opera's three acts is shown from a different angle: from the stage to the auditorium, from the auditorium to the stage and finally a kind of cross-section of stage and auditorium. Lepage thus deliberately blurred the levels - characters are both victims of Prospero's vengeful rage and spectators of the magical world of the theater.
As a composer, Thomas Adès is less interested in theories and schools than in the question: »How do I get to people's feelings?« In Tempest, fascinated by the court music of the 17th and 18th centuries, he wanted to create something that is related to the Baroque tradition and yet does not deny the world of the 21st century. The famous American music writer and critic sums up his impression of this music as follows: »It is a masterpiece of graceful beauty and eerie power.«
