Just returned from a depressing evening at Covent Garden - the much heralded new production of Don Giovanni, produced by our new Director of Opera.
There was basically a single set - a square two-storey structure, with two staircases, which could rotate and provided a variety of spaces in which the characters could interact. Onto this was projected a set of intricate computer video projections, sometimes static but often changing, and featuring in large part numerous names from Leporello’s catalogue.
There were some good things. There was superb singing from Mariusz Kwiecien (Giovanni), Malin Bystrom (Anna), Veronique Gens (Elvira), and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (the Commendatore). Elizabeth Watts sang well as Zerlina, but somehow lacked the charm which is essential to the character. Alex Esposito was not the strongest Leporello that I have heard; he was quite overshadowed by Don Giovanni. Dawid Kimberg made Masetto seem rather a wimp; this is a common failing among Masettos. When Masetto is a dangerous antagonist to the Don, which this one was not, the whole drama is lifted. Antonio Poli sang well as Ottavio, but did not seem to make much dramatic impression. This is not uncommon with Ottavio - but he was certainly not helped by the producer..
Nicola Luisotti's conducting was stylish, but I often felt that the pace was dragging.
Certain aspects of the production did not follow the usual pattern. Anna seemed uncommonly fond of Giovanni. It was hard to make her character out - I did not even try. Understanding these characters’ motives required thought; but watching and listening to opera requires feeling, and for me, thought is inimical to feeling.
The first act retained my interest to a tolerable extent. The complex finale was choreographed most interestingly through the complex spaces of the rotating structure. But in the second act I progressively lost interest. The ugly graffiti-like eye-dazzling projections went on and on and on, and the structure went round and round and round - and round and round and round… I found that the effect of the all-encompassing projections was to reduce the characters to ciphers, robbing the opera of its drama (and its humour). I would never have believed that Don Giovanni could be so undramatic, and indeed so boring.
The depressing effect of the all-pervading video projections was demonstrated in the opening of Elvira’s aria "Mi Tradi". For some reason, the projections suddenly disappeared, and we were left with a spotlit Elvira on a darkened stage. Suddenly, interest was rekindled, and for a few minutes the scene was intensely dramatic. It was amazing to briefly rediscover the drama in the piece, which had been absent for most of the evening.
It is hardly possible to conceive that the final confrontation could be undramatic, and at last the drama caught light. It could hardly do otherwise, with the superb Kwiecien and Tsymbalyuk. But the drama was all in the voices and in the music. With no "stone guest", and with the ghost and the Don on different stage levels, the stage picture had not a spark of drama.
Extraordinarily, the majority of the final scene was cut, a reversion to the "bad old days" of nineteenth-century opera production. And equally extraordinarily, the continuo accompaniment of the recitatives was often bizarre. I gather it was supposed to be "jokey". It was certainly unmusical and unMozartian. I do not know what the powers-that-be at Covent Garden can be thinking of, to countenance such vandalism. Don Giovanni is not the only example of this; Act 4 of the recent production of Carmen was butchered. The cast list announces: "The edition of Don Giovanni used in these performances is published by Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel". I think it most unlikely that the final scene that we heard, or indeed the continuo, followed Bärenreiter.
Don Giovanni seems to be a difficult opera to produce really well. But swamping a rotating structure with video projections is certainly not the answer. I came away depressed at having wasted an evening watching this.
There was basically a single set - a square two-storey structure, with two staircases, which could rotate and provided a variety of spaces in which the characters could interact. Onto this was projected a set of intricate computer video projections, sometimes static but often changing, and featuring in large part numerous names from Leporello’s catalogue.
There were some good things. There was superb singing from Mariusz Kwiecien (Giovanni), Malin Bystrom (Anna), Veronique Gens (Elvira), and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (the Commendatore). Elizabeth Watts sang well as Zerlina, but somehow lacked the charm which is essential to the character. Alex Esposito was not the strongest Leporello that I have heard; he was quite overshadowed by Don Giovanni. Dawid Kimberg made Masetto seem rather a wimp; this is a common failing among Masettos. When Masetto is a dangerous antagonist to the Don, which this one was not, the whole drama is lifted. Antonio Poli sang well as Ottavio, but did not seem to make much dramatic impression. This is not uncommon with Ottavio - but he was certainly not helped by the producer..
Nicola Luisotti's conducting was stylish, but I often felt that the pace was dragging.
Certain aspects of the production did not follow the usual pattern. Anna seemed uncommonly fond of Giovanni. It was hard to make her character out - I did not even try. Understanding these characters’ motives required thought; but watching and listening to opera requires feeling, and for me, thought is inimical to feeling.
The first act retained my interest to a tolerable extent. The complex finale was choreographed most interestingly through the complex spaces of the rotating structure. But in the second act I progressively lost interest. The ugly graffiti-like eye-dazzling projections went on and on and on, and the structure went round and round and round - and round and round and round… I found that the effect of the all-encompassing projections was to reduce the characters to ciphers, robbing the opera of its drama (and its humour). I would never have believed that Don Giovanni could be so undramatic, and indeed so boring.
The depressing effect of the all-pervading video projections was demonstrated in the opening of Elvira’s aria "Mi Tradi". For some reason, the projections suddenly disappeared, and we were left with a spotlit Elvira on a darkened stage. Suddenly, interest was rekindled, and for a few minutes the scene was intensely dramatic. It was amazing to briefly rediscover the drama in the piece, which had been absent for most of the evening.
It is hardly possible to conceive that the final confrontation could be undramatic, and at last the drama caught light. It could hardly do otherwise, with the superb Kwiecien and Tsymbalyuk. But the drama was all in the voices and in the music. With no "stone guest", and with the ghost and the Don on different stage levels, the stage picture had not a spark of drama.
Extraordinarily, the majority of the final scene was cut, a reversion to the "bad old days" of nineteenth-century opera production. And equally extraordinarily, the continuo accompaniment of the recitatives was often bizarre. I gather it was supposed to be "jokey". It was certainly unmusical and unMozartian. I do not know what the powers-that-be at Covent Garden can be thinking of, to countenance such vandalism. Don Giovanni is not the only example of this; Act 4 of the recent production of Carmen was butchered. The cast list announces: "The edition of Don Giovanni used in these performances is published by Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel". I think it most unlikely that the final scene that we heard, or indeed the continuo, followed Bärenreiter.
Don Giovanni seems to be a difficult opera to produce really well. But swamping a rotating structure with video projections is certainly not the answer. I came away depressed at having wasted an evening watching this.
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