L’ile de Merlin (Ou le Monde Renverse)

Never before staged in America, Gluck’s lighthearted Baroque fantasy recounts the misadventures of Pierrot and Scapin, who find themselves shipwrecked on Merlin’s Island – an unlikely utopia where wealthy women are required by law to marry poor men, all the lawyers are honest, married couples are always faithful, and disputes are settled by a throw of the dice. The hapless pair almost lose their new brides in one such game of chance, but Merlin intervenes and the enchanting score dances and dazzles its way to a delightfully perfect conclusion.