Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, had a vision, and that vision was to support baroque music by commissioning an opera consisting of a pastiche of different composers with an English-language libretto telling a new story...well, I don't know whose idea the story was, and calling it "new" would only be partially correct. I think we can most accurately describe it as a Shakespearean remix. It was devised by the man known as Jeremy Sams. Known and loved by all!
The story is more or less Shakespeare's Tempest, although in this version Caliban's mother Sycorax is an actual character--here presented as Prospero's former lover, filled with resentment and desire for revenge for him having abandoned her and taken her island and whatnot. Anyway, this starts a little before the play does. Prospero knows that a ship with his usurper brother is coming and orders Ariel to make a storm to crash it; he also knows that Sebastian is there, who will be a match for his daughter. But, whoops, Ariel's storm-making procedure goes awry due to sabotage from Caliban and Sycorax, and she accidentally crashes a different ship, carrying the lovers from A Midsummer Night's Dream, here married couples, having sorted out their romantic confusion. But don't expect things to stay sorted out; starting with Ariel seeing Demetrius, assuming he's Sebastian, and magicking him and Miranda into love, and things spiral from there. Although, obviously, all works out in the end.
The whole thing is incredibly well-done. The musical patchwork feels seamless (to this non-expert, at least): Handel predominates with a fair bit of Vivaldi, a handful of Rameau, two pieces by Campra, and one each by the others. The libretto is fun and funny and never feels awkward. The cast is also, unsurprisingly, top-notch; Danielle de Niese as Ariel clearly takes top honors, discovering previously only theoretical levels of delightfulness, but of course David Daniels as Prospero (you gotta have some countertenor in there) is also solid, and the top-billed Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax...*chef's kiss.* Plácido Domingo has a small but important role as Neptune, and it's kind of funny because now I understand what it sounds like to native French or Italians speakers when foreign singers tackle their repertoires with imperfect pronunciation: he slurs and drops words all over the place.
Let's talk a little more about Sycorax, shall? It quickly becomes clear that she is, at any rate, a sympathetic villain. She has a moving aria where she tries to comfort her son after Hermia--having temporarily been in love with him for magic-related reasons--has fallen out thereof. But no, in the end, she turns out not to be a villain at all. One thing about The Tempest is that Prospero is, let's face it, kind of a dick, and this opera is written with enough of a modern-day sensibility to acknowledge that. One of the last scenes is him acknowledging his fault and begging forgiveness from her, which was both unexpected and very welcome. The last thing you want to see is another Zauberflöte situation where the light male principle defeats the dark female principle.
And you know, you might rightly see that as sort of fanfic-y, but the brilliant thing is, that is totally in the tradition of baroque opera. Handel changed history and mythology willy nilly as it--presumably--fit in with the sensibilities of the time, so why can't we? It's all part of our nefarious plan! Anyway, the whole thing works brilliantly. The Met definitely came up with a winner here.
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