WA Mozart: Don Giovanni, Met Encore in HD, Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford, 25 October 2016.

The New York Metropolitan’s current production of Don Giovanni was seen in HD Encore in the comfort of the Phoenix Picturehouse in Oxford. Directed by Michael Grandage, dating from 2011,.it was one of the best productions of the opera I have seen. The title role was taken by Simon Keenlyside. Previously Keenlyside had been seen in the Don in a transmission from the opening of the Royal Opera House season in 2008 in a very energetic athletic performance. That production was notable for the definitive performance as Donna Elvira by Joyce DiDonato, just beginning to make her mark as an international star. On the present occasion, she acted as Live in HD Host.
This was an uncomplicated staging of the opera with no frills, revealing the full genius of Mozart and Da Ponte. The basic set consisted of a background of three rows of cubicles, sometimes occupied by ladies representing Don Giovanni’s conquests, in front of which the scenes changed, according to the requirements of the plot.
The remarkable feature of this production was that the characters were all recognisable twenty-first century types. Keenlyside’s Don, eight years older than in the ROH production, less athletic with approaching middle age insecurity, having continually to prove himself and going to his death when he realised the game was up. The three ladies were all strong independent women, were it not for the cracks in their armour exposed by their contact with Don Giovanni. Donna Anna, played by Hibla Gerzmava, an Abkhazian-Russian operatic soprano who currently resides in Moscow and deserves to be better known in the West, gives a magnificent interpretation. She displays indignation at her near violation by an intruder in her bedroom, distress at her father’s murder and determination in her desire for revenge. Elvira is played by Swedish soprano Malin Byström. Her head tells her that Giovanni is a waste of time but whose heart will not let him go. Zerlina, a self-willed country girl, sees no harm with flirting with an older man on her wedding day, is played by young Italian mezzo Serena Malfi. The three women’s voices dominated proceedings but there were finely charcterised performances from the men too: Adam Plachetka as Leporello, Paul Appleby as an exceptionally forceful Don Ottavio, Matthew Rose as Masetto. The imposing presence and bass voice of Korean Kwangchul Youn struck fear in our hearts as the live statue of the Commendatore.
The opera was conducted in period style by Fabio Luisi, though with the full Met orchestra. The direction Live in HD was Matthew Diamond (new to us) was a straightforward filming of the stage action

 Don Giovanni:six entries -  please scroll down

Glyndebourne, 4 July 2010

Drottningholms Slottsteater, Sweden, 28 August 2010.


Offender’s Register

WA Mozart: Don Giovanni, Welsh National Opera, New Theatre, Oxford, 22 November, 2011.

The week before the annual visit of Welsh National Opera to Oxford, bringing their new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, directed by John Caird, The Times newspaper devoted a whole page to a case study of a man suffering from sex addiction. This provokes the thought that in this day and age of prurience (and absence of death penalty) the Don would be more likely to end up on the sex offenders’ register rather than in hell, (given the punch-line: ‘but his favourite form of sinning is with one who’s just beginning’ as the Catalogue Aria has it in Edward Dent’s admirable translation). No doubt too that Donna Anna and Donna Elvira and the rest would be the victims of phone hacking.

The story is concerned with Don Giovanni’s final three escapades and his ultimate fate, aided and abetted, often reluctantly, by his servant Leporello. In a duel, Giovanni kills the Commendatore, Donna Anna’s father, after she cries for help after escaping Giovanni’s embrace having admitted him to her bedroom under the impression that he is her wimpish boy-friend Don Ottavio; Donna Elvira is a previous mistress/spouse, who has sought out Giovanni, torn between seeking vengeance and resuming their relationship and Zerlina is the peasant girl who is out of her depth in thinking she can flirt with the Don on her wedding day without arousing the jealousy of her husband Masetto. Eventually Giovanni is called to account by a speaking statue of the Commendatore and, unrepentant, is dragged down to Hell. The opera ends with a sextet in which each remaining character summarises their reaction to events and their plans for the future. (It is difficult now to believe that some sixty years ago it was a debating point whether or not this scene should be omitted!)

There are two types of production of Don Giovanni. Either, directors interpret it as conceived by Mozart and da Ponte as a dramma giocoso or they tie themselves in the most awful knots trying to add, for a modern audience, psychological or sociological significance, often with their own personal agenda. The dark side is implicit in the score and the libretto – to make it explicit is to miss the point of the opera. The worst example was Graham Vick’s inexcusably outrageous production for Glyndebourne in 2000 featuring a disembowelled horse on a dung-heap. Less extreme was the 2010 brutish verismo Glyndebourne version directed by Jonathan Kent. Fortunately, neither of these effaces the memories of Glyndebourne in Peter Hall’s production of 1977 (complete with umbrellas raised in a stage storm, which coincided with an almighty thunderstorm outside the theatre the night we saw it) nor the Chelsea Opera Group’s inaugural concert performance seen in Cambridge in 1959. Both of these fall into the first category, of dramma giocoso, as does also the version brilliantly adapted and directed by Anna Pelly for the local Sunningwell-based Opera Anywhere in 2007, set in the world of international corporate finance.

The good news is that Welsh National Opera’s new production, seen at the New Theatre on 22 November, is with the exception of a few rather silly and pointless embellishments, totally true to the original concept. Thus it has a refreshingly old- fashioned air to it. But, and this is a major fault, this air is compounded by the orchestral sound for which WNO deserves a rap on the knuckles. It was apparent from the first notes of the overture that there were far too many strings for the delicate balance between wind and strings to which we are now accustomed in Mozart’s music. The resulting lack of precision, giving a lack-lustre impression from the orchestral sound pervaded the whole evening – a rare lapse from the WNO orchestra’s usual superb standard; it sounded like just any other opera orchestra! The other bad news is the set – heavy unilluminated carved panels which moved around while singing continued - in front of which hovered silent hooded figures to no particular purpose. Other pointless embellishments were the presence already of the statue at the Commendatore’s assassination, the appearance of Don Giovanni in the final coda (not an original piece of silliness) and a bespectacled Don Ottavio.

In spite of these irritations, the evening was very enjoyable and did not deserve the critical panning it received in some quarters. The stage management was good, though, in the party scene, Zerlina’s separation and Giovanni’s escape at the end of Act I were symbolic rather than convincing. The spot-lighting of the singers was particularly effective. The singing, too, was good but not outstanding. Most effective were two late substitutes: Samantha Hay as a flighty Zerlina and Duncan Rock as the Don, with just the right mixture of charm and menace. Donna Anna was convincingly played by Camilla Roberts as the distraught and vengeful heroine. Nuccia Focile struggled with the role of Elvira, having neither the power nor the dramatic range required for this most complex character. (I may be being unfair but I cannot dismiss from my mind Joyce diDonato’s outstanding Elvira in Covent Garden’s 2008 production.) Gary Griffiths (who sang Winterreise at the recent Lieder Festival) made a likable bumpkin of Masetto. Robin Trischler, handicapped by the spectacles, made it more than usually implausible that Ottavio and Anna had a future together. Leporello was adequately played by David Soar but left little lasting impression. Carlo Malinverno’s Commendatore lacked sepulchral sonority. However, the credits far outweigh these reservations. This was a delightful ensemble production, leaving an enduring impression of the humanity of the characters. We felt we knew these people.

WA Mozart, Don Giovanni, Phoenix Picturehouse, live from the Royal Opera House, 8 September 2008

The opening night of the ROH 2008/9 season was marked by two innovations both to be welcomed as ‘reaching out’ without ‘dumbing down’. Billed as ‘Paul Hamlyn First Night supported by The Helen Hamlyn Trust in association with The Sun’. The audience had been selected by ballot from readers of The Sun newspaper at heavily subsidised prices with the aim of giving a taste of opera to those who would not normally attend. At the same time it was the first occasion on which, following the example of the NY Metropolitan, the performance was transmitted live to cinema audiences around the country. This was a fantastic experience even viewed from the third row of the Phoenix. As at the Met one is drawn into the House, following the arrival of audience and musicians, the on-stage bustle and interviews with those involved in the production, including the conductor Charles Mackerras and the director of this revival of her 2002 production of Don Giovanni, Francesca Zambello. The latter summarised in three sentences the importance of the director discussing details of the performance with the conductor and the singers, often all too apparently absent from many of today’s productions. The audience was only marginally more scruffy than the usual Covent Garden audience these days but was characterised by its enthusiastic demonstrations of appreciation, more spontaneous than the usual polite applause – a welcome change.

Musically this performance was superb, with fidelity to the content of the score rather than to the period of its composition. All three ladies gave sublime performances but only DiDonato as Elvira had that bit extra to qualify for diva status for her singing and her representation of the subtleties of the mood swings of her fascinating character. The beautiful Poplavskaya (although claiming indisposition) gave a fine characterisation of the violated and vengeful Donna Anna. Persson as Zerlina was not as much at home in this third of her Da Ponte roles following a charmful Susanna at Covent Garden and a scintillating Fiordiligi at Glyndebourne in 2006. Like Susanna, Zerlina is a self-willed young woman; unlike Susanna, she is not completely in control of her situation. The second sensation was the Ottavio of Ramón Vargas portrayed not as the ineffectual wimp he usually appears; rarely can one believe, as on this occasion, that he and Anna might get together again after the year has elapsed. The Commendatore of Eric Halfvarson was terrifyingly impressive both in voice and presence.

The principal men, played by Simon Keenlyside and Kyle Ketelsen, had to stand comparison with previously experiences of great interpreters of the roles. Keenlyside played the Don with his trademark athleticism but this did not generate sufficient sex-appeal to make credible the ‘catalogue’ of his conquests. Ketelsen failed to establish a consistent persona for Leporello.

In the cinema the subtitles play a stronger role than the surtitles in the opera house being easier to view (or more obtrusive – according to the point of view). On this occasion, Kenneth Chalmers (not credited in the cinema programme and only in very small print as a ‘production credit’ in the insert in the ROH programme) produced a modern colloquial English version, largely accurate if anachronistic.One missed some felicities from earlier translations such as ‘but his favourite form of sinning is with one who’s just beginning’.

We left the Phoenix totally satisfied with the experience. From the Opera House one misses the projection of the singers’ voices, the ambience of the auditorium and the sense of occasion. Within these limitations, in the cinema the sound and vision were well-nigh perfect. We were drawn into the action whether joining the throng of Zerlina’s companions or sensing the chill of the Commedatore’s presence. As value for money it is incomparable. And it is only ten minutes from home

W A Mozart: Don Giovanni, Opera Anywhere, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda's College, Oxford, 8 May 2007

This production of Don Giovanni from Opera Anywhere, the enterprising local company directed by Mike and Vanessa Woodward, was billed as ‘a new English translation’. This is wrong. What we have is a completely new version of the opera set in the world of corporate finance in an adaptation by Anna Pelly who draws on her own experiences of that world using the unprintable colloquial English of the milieu to produce a totally credible set of characters mirroring the creations of da Ponte. The result is a refreshing and completely valid version of Mozart’s opera, following the story-line closely but reminding one that his characters are real people with real emotions involved in the sexual politics of real situations (unlike many recent productions). Thus Anna is a senior partner in an investment bank who is sexually assaulted working late one evening by a ‘hoodied’ stranger. The chief executive (Mr Mendatore - sic), Anna’s mentor, who comes to her rescue is battered into a coma, dying later in intensive care. Her close colleague, Ottavio, another partner, displays his wimpish character throughout by seeking to follow protocol in bringing accusations of sexual assault and gbh against another colleague Giovanni, rather than taking direct action. Leporello is Giovanni’s chauffeur, Elvira an American lawyer jilted by Giovanni in Tokyo. Zerlina is from the typing pool (we first meet her photocopying invitations to her wedding party) and her fiancé, Masetto, works in the post room.

Much of this one knew from pre-publicity, which included a Channel 4 TV makeover with Harvey Goldsmith. The question was would it work in practice? Would the wit of the original be transferable and sustained throughout? Would the language offend? Would the standard of performance be worthy of the opera? More deeply, one was concerned that it might come over as a financial-world version of the cult television legal series This Life, with its rather sleazy soap opera characters - it didn’t.

The set was a simple arrangement of movable screens and office equipment, designed by Paul Batten, which provided an adequate rudimentary background for the action. The musical accompaniment was provided by Lyndall Dawson who, with immense stamina, hammered it out on the JdP Yamaha. Let us put it this way: she was emulating a full orchestra rather than the delicacy of a baroque band and continuo but nevertheless gave, for the most part, good support to the singers. Occasionally we had voice-over of financial news bulletins. Right from the start of Act I any qualms disappeared and one could sit back and become absorbed in Mozart’s music and the development of the plot in a fresh take on the well-known score. The words were clear – perhaps too clear. In spite of oneself one could not help smiling at some of the explicit text with unprintable rhyming. Only at one point, in over-emphasised reference to the female anatomy, did it offend.

The cast consisted of a talented set of young singers already forging careers with opera companies both large and small. The singing and acting ranged from the acceptable to the sublime – I judge by high standards. There were no weaknesses in the ensembles. William Coleman disappointed as Leporello somehow missing the comic timing and exasperation with his lot that the part demands – the financial centre version of the Catalogue Aria was better performed at the charity concert where we heard it last year. Neither was Richard Strivens completely convincing as Giovanni – a little too self-conscious for credibility- though he sang well. The production did not avoid the cliché of him singing his serenade into a mobile telephone. (At least we were spared the WNO television set, though, come to think of it, we could have had some IT paraphernalia as part of the set.)  Toby Scholtz as Ottavio gave a convincing portrayal of the character’s ineffectiveness; his vocal prowess was not tested since both his arias were omitted. Julia Hessey sang Elvira with appropriate piquancy but was sadly limited in vocal and dramatic expressiveness. (Should Elvira not have something of Bridget Jones about her in such a version of the opera?) On the other hand, Abbi Temple (Zerlina) and Matthew Duncan (Masetto) were a most moving pair of young lovers, subtly translating their roles from country innocents to office juniors. Temple, in particular, showed great personality, really living her part and singing beautifully.

However, the sensations of the evening were Lynsey Docherty, already experienced in many Mozart roles, singing Anna and Steven Gallop in the Commendatore role. Docherty went from strength to strength, culminating in a performance of her last aria (Non mi dir in the original) that would have received an ovation had the audience been less sparse. Anna’s character was developed as an ambitious professional, approaching her glass ceiling, violated in more ways than one by the assault and its consequences and determined on revenge.

The denouement of the opera was brilliantly conceived, almost more convincing than the original. Instead of a statue we had a head portrait of Mendatore in front of which his full, upright, rigid body appeared suddenly, not as a statue but as a drug-induced hallucination of cocaine sniffing Giovanni and Leporello. The part was sung by Gallop, in a doom laden and menacing bass, as one had never heard it sung before. It did not seem to matter that the words did not come over as clearly as the original Italian, a cena teco m’invitasti. It was overwhelming.

It may seem incredible today but fifty years ago it was a matter for serious debate whether or not the final sextet should or should not be included, in which each character in turn looks forward to the future. In this version it is omitted. The production ends with Giovanni meeting his death at the hands of a group of black-masked muggers. It was enough and spared Ms Pelly the challenge of writing a version of the finale consistent with the financial scandal about to overtake the bank as a consequence of the events depicted.