About the work
The Tempest is an opera in three acts by Thomas Adès to an English libretto by Meredith Oakes that freely reworks Shakespeare's play rather than following it literally. It premiered on 10 February 2004 at the Royal Opera House in London, a co-production with the opera houses of Copenhagen and Strasbourg, directed by Tom Cairns.
Plot
The magician Prospero, robbed of his dukedom of Milan by his brother, lives with his daughter Miranda on a remote island and, with the help of the spirit Ariel, conjures a storm that drives his enemies ashore. Oakes's text compresses the play into short, rhymed verse and foregrounds Prospero's inner conflict between revenge and forgiveness.
Cultural significance
A recording of the 2012 revival won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2014. Critics praised the orchestration for its shimmering depiction of the island's spirit world, and the opera has become one of the most widely performed British operas of the early 21st century.