Don Giovanni review
New take on Mozart classic shows depth
Opera Nuova’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which opened at the Timms Centre on Friday, is a kind of pocket Don Giovanni.
The orchestra is greatly reduced, the opera judiciously cut, the different scenes cleverly contained in what is essentially a single-location set.
The production, too, has a double mandate. Billed as part of the company’s Vocal Arts Festival, it may be designed to entertain, but its primary purpose is to further the experience of the young singers who are taking part in Opera Nuova’s training program.
However, to overlook it as simply a student production would be a mistake. After a hesitating start, this Don Giovanni turned out to be both an entertaining evening and, for those who already know the opera, a really interesting way of looking at the work, one which I will long remember.
That is due mainly to the stage direction of Rob Herriot. He has set it in an Italy inspired by the 1960s, though more redolent of the kind of smalltown Italian world seen in the Godfather.
To provide unity, everything takes place in the town’s square. It’s surrounded by the simple but very effective set designed by Nick Blais, cleverly laid-out, and subtly changing the emphasis of the square by flying in a church window or the dining-hall doors.
This Don Giovanni undoubtedly takes place in a community where everyone at least knows of each other. Even Elvira, entering with suitcases and a trunk, is clearly returning to her home town. Zerlina and Masetto are not the usual rural peasants, far removed from the aristocratic world of Giovanni, but simply on the bottom rung of a smalltown Mafiosi-style communal structure where Don Giovanni is at the top.
It really works, giving pace and cohesion to the drama, and raising further questions about the moral compass of the opera, and which side Mozart was actually on.
A second major decision was, unusually, to centre the comedy around Donna Elvira, played with aplomb on Friday by Samantha Pickett.
The character, especially in recent years, has usually been taken far more seriously. Yet Herriot showed that placing her at the centre of the proceedings not only makes for good entertainment, but also makes dramatic sense. As she gets more serious toward the end, so does the whole tone. The change from comedy to quasi-tragedy was as marked in this production as in any I have seen.
One unexpected result of all this is Giovanni himself, sung here by Micah Schroeder, recedes in importance. We are more interested in the interaction of the other characters, and where they will end up, than in what will happen at the end. This is emphasized by the final tableau, where there is a strong sense of the community getting on with things and being well rid of the Don. Indeed, we the audience have already half-forgotten him, though he was consigned to the flames only moments before.
The very fact this is a student cast (actually, two casts in this production, alternating each night) is to the advantage of this approach. They are of the right age for an opera primarily about young love. They bring a youthful energy to the more comic proceedings. Perhaps most important of all, they are very much an ensemble rather than a collection of soloists – indeed, perhaps the best moments of this production, both musically and in stage action, were the ensembles.
There were also some effective performances from the Friday cast. Michael Gracco as Leporello was the most assured, both dramatically and vocally – he has a completely unselfconscious stage presence, his comic acting, and the singing to go with it, flowing easily. Soprano Pascale Spinney made the most of Zerlina, turning her into a character with depth – there was a lovely moment vocally where, within a phrase, she turned her mockery of Giovanni into a little frisson of erotic thrill. Soprano Natalya Matyusheva as Donna Anna at times sung beautifully, though she could add a softer, quieter voice to her range. Tenor Charles Sly (Don Ottavio) has a lovely tone, one I would like to hear in lieder. Nathaniel Wiseman was suitably senatorial as the Stone Guest.
Yes, the orchestra, conducted by Michelle Mourre, at times fluffed a few things, while sounding larger than its numbers. Yes, the singing was at times variable, as one would expect from a student company. Yes, the stage acting was occasionally a little ham. But none of that mattered.
Not only is this Don Giovanni an entertaining evening, but it is an evening at the opera that makes one both laugh and rethink one of the repertoire’s best known works.
Don Giovanni continues this week, alternating with the company’s new production of Donizetti’s sparkling little comedy (no dark Stone Guests here), L’Elisir d’Amore.