Saturday, May 20, 2017

Utah Opera's Don Giovanni

Mozart's Don Giovanni is my very favorite opera.  I've seen it several times and I had the opportunity to see Utah Opera's production last night.  Don Giovanni (Joshua Hopkins) is a rake who spends most of his time trying to add to his considerable list of conquests with the help of his loyal servant, Leporello (Matthew Burns).  The opera opens with the attempted rape of Donna Anna (Melinda Whittington) by Giovanni.  Her father, the Commentadore (Richard Wiegold), challenges him and, in a struggle, Giovanni kills him.  Anna begs her fiancĂ©, Don Ottavio (Aaron Blake) to avenge her honor and her father's death.  Next, Giovanni and Leporello observe Donna Elvira (Caitlin Lynch) lamenting the fact that her lover has abandoned her and, realizing that she is talking about him, Giovanni mocks her mercilessly.  She vows revenge.  Finally, Giovanni openly attempts to seduce Zerlina (Sarah Coit) during her wedding, enraging the groom Masetto (Markel Reed) who also vows revenge.  As all of these characters attempt to exact justice, Giovanni is somehow able to elude them, most notably by having Leporello impersonate him while he attempts to seduce Elvira's maid.  Giovanni can't hide forever as the ghost of the Commentadore returns from the dead to accuse him and send him to hell.  The music of this opera is absolutely beautiful (Oh, how I love Mozart) and the Utah Symphony performs it brilliantly, from the dramatic opening notes of the Overture to the shattering conclusion.  All of the actors sing their roles with so much passion and I was especially impressed with Wiegold, who is quite terrifying in the final scene.  Director Kristine McIntyre, in an attempt to make this opera more accessible to audiences, modernized the setting and gave the production a film noir treatment.  The color palette is entirely black and white with very low lighting.  The action takes place on the streets of a big city and the men are portrayed as gangsters in dark suits, trench coats, and fedoras and the women are either victims or femme fatales in elegant dresses with full skirts.  Without a doubt, this is an amazing production which I highly recommend (there is only one performance left!) but, to be honest, I missed the grandeur of the original setting and I found the alternate ending to be a bit anticlimactic.  I sometimes think that directors underestimate their audience.  We don't necessarily need to have the material  dumbed down made more accessible to understand and enjoy the libretto.  But, what do I know?  My favorite staging of this opera is the Twyla Tharp version in the movie Amadeus.

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