L’Isola disabitata | Haydn

Métastase's libretto, without supporting or dwelling on it, interweaves several poetic motifs of the Enlightenment. The lost island in the South Seas where a young castaway has been languishing for thirteen years alongside her younger sister is reminiscent of those populated by Marivaux's fantasy. There is nothing like an island, in fact, to conduct social or sentimental experiments, away from the influences of the rest of the world. Costanza, the aptly named, despairs of ever seeing her husband again: she is convinced that he has abandoned her, and has come to the conclusion that all men are monsters. She has already carved her will on a rock... Silvia was too young to remember her previous life: life in the wilderness is enough for her. When Gernando finally arrives, accompanied by his friend Enrico, he doesn't know if Costanza has survived. And Enrico does not know that Silvia knows neither men nor love... In fourteen short scenes, Haydn alternates the voices of these searching hearts, and concludes their quest with a superb final quartet.