In Espagna, mille e tre
Sep. 29th, 2012 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariLast week Other Kenjari and I went to IU's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and it was very good. I had quibbles with some of the staging decisions, but the singing and playing were terrific, and there was a lot to like about other aspects of the production, too.
First, the quibbles. I thought a lot of the staging decisions were unsympathetic to the female characters. Donna Elvira was portrayed as completely melting at any morsel of positive attention Don Giovanni gave here, which took some of the force from her anger. Yes, her feelings about and for him are somewhat ambivalent, but that doesn't mean her anger over his betrayal and abandonment aren't legitimate and important (to both her as a character and to the narrative itself). Worst was that the action put on stage during the overture seemed to be aiming* to cast some doubt on the nature of what happened in Donna Anna's bedroom: Donna Anna waffles between unwilling, coy, and willing in her response to a masked and disguised Don Giovanni. This is especially troubling since the libretto and the later music are pretty clear that what happened was attempted rape: when Leporello declares it so in the first scene, Don Giovanni does not contradict him; and when Donna Anna describes what happened as such, not only does Don Ottavio rightly believe her, the music for her aria supports the truth of her account. Other productions I have seen leave this entirely off-stage (as does the libretto), and I prefer it that way.
ON the other hand, the production was overall very attractive. The use of large mirrors at the back of the stage produced some nice effects, especially for the outdoor scenes and Don Giovanni's villa. The costumes were really beautiful. The final scene, where the Commendatore's statue arrives and consigns Don Giovanni to hell was nicely done. As the stage was inundated with fog, he rode in on horse prop/statue that is slides across the stage on a small track. The horse's glowing red eyes were a nice touch. It was quite thrilling despite the simplicity of the effects. It's one of the marks of Mozart's genius that you really don't need much in the way of complex stagecraft or effects for this scene, because almost all of it is already there in the music.
The performances were wonderful. I really liked Zachary Coates' Don Giovanni - physically, he was reminiscent of Edward Norton in The Illusionist, and he had just the right voice for the part. Over the course of the opera, Don Giovanni becomes increasingly dissolute and callous, and Coates handled this quite well. Jason Eck's Leporello was a great partner and foil to Coates, too. Eck was great at the physical comedy and the snappy wit of the part. He did a great job with the Catalog Aria, and with all the ensemble pieces. I loved Kelly Glyptis' Donna Elvira - she captured the force of the character well. And even though I did not agree with the directorial choices regarding her meltiness over Don Giovanni, Glyptis did carry it off well. Rainelle Krrause, who sang Zerlina, did a beautiful job, too.
Don Giovanni is one of my favorite operas, and getting to see it live was a real treat. I was reminded of all the ways in which it is a near-perfect opera - great arias, comedy, romance, tragedy, and wonderful ensembles. Especially the latter - there is everything from duets to septets, and they are all amazing. I hope I get many more chances to see it.
*I say "seem to be aiming" because the staging did have elements of ambiguity, and was not always clear in what it was suggesting.
First, the quibbles. I thought a lot of the staging decisions were unsympathetic to the female characters. Donna Elvira was portrayed as completely melting at any morsel of positive attention Don Giovanni gave here, which took some of the force from her anger. Yes, her feelings about and for him are somewhat ambivalent, but that doesn't mean her anger over his betrayal and abandonment aren't legitimate and important (to both her as a character and to the narrative itself). Worst was that the action put on stage during the overture seemed to be aiming* to cast some doubt on the nature of what happened in Donna Anna's bedroom: Donna Anna waffles between unwilling, coy, and willing in her response to a masked and disguised Don Giovanni. This is especially troubling since the libretto and the later music are pretty clear that what happened was attempted rape: when Leporello declares it so in the first scene, Don Giovanni does not contradict him; and when Donna Anna describes what happened as such, not only does Don Ottavio rightly believe her, the music for her aria supports the truth of her account. Other productions I have seen leave this entirely off-stage (as does the libretto), and I prefer it that way.
ON the other hand, the production was overall very attractive. The use of large mirrors at the back of the stage produced some nice effects, especially for the outdoor scenes and Don Giovanni's villa. The costumes were really beautiful. The final scene, where the Commendatore's statue arrives and consigns Don Giovanni to hell was nicely done. As the stage was inundated with fog, he rode in on horse prop/statue that is slides across the stage on a small track. The horse's glowing red eyes were a nice touch. It was quite thrilling despite the simplicity of the effects. It's one of the marks of Mozart's genius that you really don't need much in the way of complex stagecraft or effects for this scene, because almost all of it is already there in the music.
The performances were wonderful. I really liked Zachary Coates' Don Giovanni - physically, he was reminiscent of Edward Norton in The Illusionist, and he had just the right voice for the part. Over the course of the opera, Don Giovanni becomes increasingly dissolute and callous, and Coates handled this quite well. Jason Eck's Leporello was a great partner and foil to Coates, too. Eck was great at the physical comedy and the snappy wit of the part. He did a great job with the Catalog Aria, and with all the ensemble pieces. I loved Kelly Glyptis' Donna Elvira - she captured the force of the character well. And even though I did not agree with the directorial choices regarding her meltiness over Don Giovanni, Glyptis did carry it off well. Rainelle Krrause, who sang Zerlina, did a beautiful job, too.
Don Giovanni is one of my favorite operas, and getting to see it live was a real treat. I was reminded of all the ways in which it is a near-perfect opera - great arias, comedy, romance, tragedy, and wonderful ensembles. Especially the latter - there is everything from duets to septets, and they are all amazing. I hope I get many more chances to see it.
*I say "seem to be aiming" because the staging did have elements of ambiguity, and was not always clear in what it was suggesting.
