Back to worksAriel's Tempest: An opera for Young Audiences (2011)
Duration: ca. 50'
Libretto by Roger Brunyate
Commissioned by the Peabody Conservatory Opera Outreach and the Annapolis Opera
Premiere Date: December 4, 2011, Baltimore, MD
Program Note
Ariel’s Tempest (2011) explores the world of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest with the aid of a helpful Narrator and some assistance from the Bard himself. As the two dive into various characters, they meet the other actors and singers who make up the world, exploring the thoughts and feelings of the inhabitants of the magical island. Alternating between light and dark, mundane and otherworldly, and serious and comic, the opera takes the audience on a wondrous adventure.
— Douglas Buchanan
"Doug was the perfect choice for a composer to collaborate with me on a short operatic version of The Tempest for young audiences. His music, which ranges from whimsy to grandeur, perfectly matched the Shakespeare play; his tunefulness and rhythmic energy enthralled both children and their parents. And I chose his haunting setting of Caliban’s ‘Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises’ to be sung at the ceremony marking my own retirement."
— Roger Brunyate, Director Emeritus, the Peabody Opera
Audio
Ariel's Tempest - Excerpt: "Be not afeard"
Score Preview
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