Back to browse
77% Critic Match
The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel
7.7 / 10• 2017• 2h 22m•NR• English
FantasyMusic
Storyline
After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.
Cast & Crew
JK
Joseph Kaiser
Edmundo de Nobile
LeadAE
Amanda Echalaz
Lucía de Nobile
AL
Audrey Luna
Leticia Maynar
Alice Coote
Leonora Palma
Sally Matthews
Silvia de Ávila
Iestyn Davies
Francisco de Ávila
Christine Rice
Blanca Delgado
Rodney Gilfry
Alberto Roc
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Tom Cairns's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
