Vivaldi and Ruhl’s “The Seasons” made its world premiere on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at the Emerson Paramount Center. The performance, co-presented by ArtsEmerson and Boston Lyric Opera, follows five artists who seek refuge and creative inspiration at a remote farm. When extreme weather strikes, they are forced into survival mode, uncertain of their futures.
The baroque opera opens in darkness. The five artists settle onto the edge of the stage, a numbness in their limbs as they stare out into the audience. A dull light emerges as the artists sing of climate change, of how the weather affects physical and mental wellness.
The Poet, played by co-creator and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, is the first to arrive at the farm. He is greeted by The Farmer, played by soprano Ashley Emerson. Together, they sing of the beautiful and rustic landscape and of the need to create. For The Poet, creation is the pen on the page. For The Farmer, creation is tilling the land and growing the produce. The Painter, played by countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim, is the next to arrive with a craving to fill a blank canvas. The Performance Artist, played by soprano Whitney Morrison, joins the group followed by The Choreographer, played by mezzo-soprano Alexis Peart, who are both feeling uninspired by their movement.
As the characters sing of artistic frustrations due to the global climate crisis, six dancers embodying the elements move with a gentle lightness in the background. Clad in airy dresses with weather hues, they transform into the wind, the rain, the snow, the heat, and the fog. The stage becomes emotionally charged, a blend of pain wafting through the theatre.
While the fickle weather patterns build, love blossoms. The Poet and The Painter fall in love. And so do The Farmer and The Performance Artist. Sarah Ruhl, the libretto, said of the affection, “We often feel we cannot control love, just as we cannot control the weather. And even as larger political and existential questions loom, human beings still find a way to love.”
Just as the intimacy crescendos, The Cosmic Weatherman, played by bass-baritone Brandon Cedel, arrives onstage to report the untenable blizzard. The Poet stumbles across the floor, braving the storm, only to be knocked unconscious by the freezing temperatures. Act 1 ends with The Poet curled in the fetal position, frozen and alone.
Act II begins with The Painter finding The Poet on the brink of death. The Painter covers his lover with a warm coat. The Farmer, The Performance Artist, and The Choreographer form a semicircle behind them as the dancers amplify the intensity with short, sharp moves spanning the whole of the stage.
The blizzard peeters out and The Poet recovers. Yet the extreme weather worsens. The heat causes a blazing fire, the stage lit with an orange glow. The scene reminds the audience that we currently face a burning world. A forlorn energy fights through the theatre as viewers reflect on the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed much of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County in January.
The dancers move back and forth with anxiety-riddled limbs, their bodies cultivating tension and hardship. Sarah Ruhl said of the dancers, “Working with iconic choreographer Pan Tanowitz has been a revelation; she finds ways for her dancers to dance the weather and also the feeling of weather.”
Just as the orange fades, a blue haze covers the stage. The dancers face away from the audience and walk into the background. The floods. The five artists battle through the cavernous waters before the light recedes and the characters fall onto the hardwood, victims of the storm.
A white light appears and a row of adolescents walk with trepidation towards the front of the stage. Their voices carry a tune of rebirth, of hope for the future before the venue is ensconced in darkness.
Vivaldi and Ruhl’s “The Seasons” brings forth an unbearable weight. From the moment the lights come up until the final glimmer, the space is awash in anxiety, of the plight of the world. A panic courses through the audience and they are left with one repeated question: how can we fix this? Yet the answer doesn’t appear. The performance doesn’t seek a solution. It merely depicts a realistic future in which weather beats down our environment until it becomes uninhabitable. The artists and the dancers are strong and gentle in their bodies and evoke one true sentiment in this fated theory: art and love will continue to connect humanity.
Vivaldi and Ruhl’s “The Seasons” ran at the Emerson Paramount Center from March 12, 2025 to March 16, 2025. Additional productions in New York and beyond are planned for the future.