opera in three acts
Music by Benjamin Britten
Libretto by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Director: Claudia
Solti
Set Designer: Isabella Bywater
Musical
Preparation: Irina Soboleva
SYNOPSIS
Act I
A forest near Athens. Night has fallen. Puck
disrupts the fairies’ work with news that his master Oberon is on the way.
Oberon, King of the Fairies, is quarrelling with Tytania, his queen, over a
young boy who is under her protection. Tytania, furious at Oberon, refuses to
give up the boy to him.
Oberon sends Puck to fetch a magic flower, the juice
of which on Tytania’s eyelids will make her fall in love with the first creature
she sees upon waking. He will steal the boy while she is under the spell.
Lysander and Hermia meet near Athens. They are fleeing from the law which allows
Hermia’s father to force her into marriage with Demetrius. They decide to elope
and marry in secret and set off into the woods.
Helena has warned Demetrius
that his love, Hermia, is leaving Athens. Demetrius chases after her, pursued by
Helena, who is hopelessly in love with him. Demetrius scornfully rejects Helena
and runs ahead into the forest. Oberon, who has witnessed their argument, orders
Puck to seek out Demetrius and place the juice of the magic flower on his eyes
so that he will fall in love with Helena. Six artisans have left the city to
discuss in secret a play they hope to perform at the wedding of Theseus, Duke of
Athens, to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. There is some disagreement over the
casting, with Bottom and Flute finally agreeing to play the parts of Pyramus and
Thisbe, the star-crossed lovers of the play’s title. Quince, the author and
director of the play, hands out the scripts; all agree to learn their parts and
meet later that night in the woods to rehearse.
Lysander and Hermia wander,
lost, amidst the forest. Exhausted, they lie down to sleep. Puck, mistakenly
thinking he has found Demetrius, places the juice of the magic flower on
Lysander’s eyes. Demetrius, still pursued by Helena, angrily abandons her to the
dangers of the forest at night. Alone and in despair, she sees the sleeping
Lysander and awakens him. Under the effect of the “love-juice”, he immediately
falls in love with her. Furious, she runs off, thinking he is making fun of her.
Lysander chases after her. Hermia awakes from a terrible dream to find herself
alone.
In the heart of the forest, the fairies help their mistress Tytania
to sleep. Oberon steals in to put the love-juice on her eyes: “Be it ounce, or
cat, or bear, // In thy eye that shall appear // When thou wakest, it is thy
dear: // Wake when some vile thing is near.”
Act II
The forest, later the same night. Quince and his
men meet to rehearse. There are several problems raised by the script, to all of
which Bottom finds a solution. Rehearsals eventually begin. Puck, seeing the
actors at work, decides to amuse himself by turning Bottom into an ass. At the
sight of this strange transformation, the others run off, terrified.
Bottom,
left alone, sings out loud to keep his courage up. Bottom’s singing awakens
Tytania, who immediately falls in love with him. With the help of the fairies,
she manages to coax him to bed. Oberon is delighted to find Tytania in love with
an ass, but he is less pleased to see Hermia still being pursued by Demetrius.
And the arrival of Lysander in pursuit of Helena makes it clear that Puck has
put the love-juice on the eyes of the wrong youth.
Demetrius, rejected by
Hermia, falls asleep, exhausted, and Oberon places the juice on his eyes. Helena
returns, still harassed by Lysander’s protestations of love. Demetrius wakes,
sees Helena and falls in love with her. This merely confirms Helena’s belief
that the men have planned this mockery of love – a belief which is compounded
when Hermia arrives to be met by Lysander’s instant rejection. Oberon and Puck
witness the furious quarrel which erupts between the four mortals.
Oberon is
enraged at Puck’s mistake and gives him a herb that will act as an antidote for
Lysander. By imitating the men’s voices, Puck keeps the lovers apart until they
each fall asleep. He then places the herb on Lysander’s eyes.
Act III
The forest, shortly before dawn. Oberon releases
Tytania from the spell. She awakens to see her beloved Oberon and is appalled
that she could have been in love with an ass. Daybreak wakes the four lovers.
Demetrius is still in love with Helena, and Lysander is once again in love with
Hermia. Bottom, restored to human shape, awakens from the most peculiar dream
that he was transformed into an ass. He returns to the city while his friends
search for him in the woods. They have just given up on finding him when he
returns with the news that their play has been chosen to be performed at
Theseus’ wedding.
Back in Athens, the lovers have come to beg Theseus’
forgiveness for their disobedience to Athenian law. Theseus decides that the two
couples shall be married at the same time as he and Hippolyta.
After Quince
and his players have given their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe, the three
couples retire to bed. Oberon, Tytania and the fairies arrive to bless the
sleeping household.
Schedule for Benjamin Britten "A midsummer night`s dream" (opera in 3 act) 2022