Existential Tragedy in Music and Vision 24 maggio

Existential Tragedy

A new Italian production of Don Giovanni,
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

According to the Opera Base data bank, at the end of the twentieth century, Don Giovanni by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang A Mozart replaced Carmen by Georges Bizet as the most frequently performed opera in the world every year. The statistics do not include the two daily puppet performances in Prague (where the opera was premiered on 29 October 1787). In a perceptive essay, musicologist Julian Rushton points out that one of the reasons for the success of this opera (the second in the generally called Da Ponte-Mozart trilogy) is the skillful combination of two main elements — one highly dramatic and one quite comic — both theatrically and musically. In the last important productions, as those premiered in Aix en Provence in 2010 [Read Nearly a Male Lulu, 10 July 2010] and in Milan [An Immoralist Black Comedy, 12 December 2011], the tragic components strongly prevailed over the hilarious parts. Christoff Loy's Don Giovanni production which recently had its debut at Frankfurt Oper takes a similar approach, using an edition of the score where the Prague and later Vienna editions are mixed following traditional lines.

Carlos Alvarez as Don Giovanni and Michail Ryssov as the Commendatore in Act I of Don Giovanni at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Corrado Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution

The new Palermo production is in this vein: in the conception of the stage director Lorenzo Amato and his team — Angelo Canu for the stage sets, Marja Hoffmann for the costumes, Alessandro Carletti for the lighting and Giancarlo Stiscia for the choreography — Don Giovanni is an existential tragedy of a man's loneliness and anguish before death. In this interpretation, they were helped by two elements not normally found in productions of the opera. First of all, whereas Don Giovanni is generally staged following the 1787 Prague libretto and music (with the addition of some of the arias composed a few months later for Vienna), this production rigorously follows the Vienna edition, including the tragic conclusion instead of the happy (and moralistic) ending presented in Prague. In addition, the musical director and conductor was not selected from among the Mozart specialists. In the pit is Stefano Ranzani, well known as a master of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century repertory: from the way in which his baton handled the D minor in the 'andante' of the overture, it was clear that we were far from the light universe of Mozart and into a heavier world. The tempos were fast and each dissonance was emphasized, as in Puccini, Giordano and the German late romantic school. This may ruffle a few feathers, but should not be considered as a negative criticism (albeit in the audience, some were taken by surprise and not all liked it). Ranzani's conducting style is fully on the same wavelength as Amato's ingenious staging.

Tomislav Muzek as Don Ottavio, Rocio Ignacio as Donna Anna, Carlos Alvarez as Don Giovanni, Marco Vinco as Leporello and members of the chorus in the Act I finale of Don Giovanni at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Corrado Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution

Don Giovanni's loneliness and anguish were vividly shown by the sets and costumes, as well as by the singers' effective acting. There is a single stage set on a revolving platform: in the back an exedra and in front either a garden-maze or simple benches. The 'Don' and Leporello wear eighteenth century costumes, all the other modern attire. The action takes place either at night or in the fog. If at La Scala in 2011 Robert Carsen offered Don Giovanni as a dark comedy, now Amato presents the opera almost as a Greek tragedy. He is a comparatively young stage director who operates mostly in Italy; international opera houses may look him up.

Carlos Alvarez as Don Giovanni and Marco Vinco as Leporello in Act II of Don Giovanni at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo. Photo © 2014 Corrado Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution

Although the singers had been trained by the stage director to act quite effectively, not all of them were up to standard on the 16 May 2014 opening night on which this review is based. Carlos Álvarez (the 'Don'), Marco Vinco (Leporello) and Michail Ryssov (the Commendatore) are three very experienced veterans. Álvarez has performed the title role over one hundred times and knows all the tricks, Vinco has been Leporello a dozen times and brought the comic relief which emphasized the tragedy even more fully, and Ryssok is a powerful bass with a huge volume. Maija Kovalevska (Donna Elvira), Barbara Bargnesi (Zerlina) and Biagio Pizzuti (Masetto) are young promising interpreters with a lot of talent. Rocio Ignacio (as Donna Anna) and Tomislav Muzek (as Don Ottavio) were quite uneven and with problems of diction and emission. This production of Don Giovanni is at the beginning of what may be a long journey, and its weaknesses can be made good.

Copyright © 24 May 2014 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy