By
1785 Mozart had moved from Salzburg
to Vienna via Munich. He did this so as to enlarge his opportunities. By then his strengths
as an opera composer were widely recognised and the genre was
to remain central to his ambitions. In 1786 he commenced collaboration
with the poet Da Ponte to realise the immensely popular Le
Nozze de Figaro with its taut plot and integrated music.
The work was immediately widely acclaimed and was later produced
in Prague with unprecedented success. Bondi, the Manager of The Prague Opera,
keen to capitalise on Mozart’s popularity in the city, commissioned
a new opera from him for production the following autumn. Mozart
returned to Vienna and sought the cooperation of Da Ponte
for the provision of a suitable libretto. Although Da Ponte
was working on librettos for two other composers he agreed to
set the verses of Don Giovanni. It is suggested that
Da Ponte used some existing material.
Don
Giovanni was well received in Prague. However, for a production in Vienna the following year there were problems. The tenor couldn’t sing his
Act 2 aria Il Mio Tesoro and Mozart substituted the aria
Dalla sua pace, better suited to his abilities, at No.10
in Act 1. The role of Elvira was to be sung in Vienna
by a protégée of Salieri; she demanded a scena for herself.
Mozart added the accompanied recitative In quali eccessi
and aria Mi Tradi at No.26. Common performance and recorded
custom is to incorporate the later Vienna additions into the Prague original. This practice is followed
here. However, perhaps as a result of the origins of the libretto
added to the insertions of the Vienna
scenes, a performance can sometimes seem a hotch-potch and dramatic
cohesion is lost. The production scenery needs to be capable
of quick change from one often-short scene to the next, whilst
the producer needs to accommodate the intimate with the more
public group situations.
The
sets and costumes in this production situate the work in the
period of its composition. The sets move swiftly and easily,
and with the additional help of backdrop, convincingly accommodate
the various settings. I was not, however, impressed with the
finale as Don Giovanni sings of being surrounded by fire as
the Commendatore draws him down to hell. This provides an opportunity
for a veritable coup de théâtre. The opportunity is missed in
this production. Or maybe the persistent use of close-ups by
the video director threw the baby out with the bathwater. I
am sure that if Brian Large, who has been responsible for the
video direction of over seventy Met performances had been in
charge, a better visual balance would have been achieved. There
is also, in my view, a major incongruity in the costumes. Masetto
and Zerlina are described as country folks or peasants. In this
production their dress is indistinguishable from the aristocrats
who play the other roles.
Of
course the singer who plays Don Giovanni carries the greatest
burden histrionically and vocally. In Chicago
in September 2004 Bryn Terfel, in a production by Peter Stein,
said farewell to the role as he prepared for Wagner’s Wotan
at London’s Covent Garden. A
wise decision; Mozart and Wagner mix on a voice much as hot
fat and water in a pan. He has been the non-pareil Don Giovanni
de nos jours and his sung and portrayed performance in this
production illustrates his strengths to the full. He is vocally
mellifluous in his aria Finch’han dal vino (D1. Ch. 27)
and serenata Deh vieni alla finestra (D2, Ch. 5) and
his caressing of the phrases as he persuades Zerlina to go with
him in La ci darem la mano (D1 Ch. 16) is a delight.
But the role of Don Giovanni is about more than singing and
here Bryn Terfel excels in his portrayal of the sadistic pursuer
of women. His physicality, facial expression, verbal nuance
and acting, constitute a portrayal of Don Giovanni as a sadistic
rake who will pursue his carnal pleasures by persuasion or force,
preferably the latter. His derision on Donna Elvira as she tries
to persuade him to change his lifestyle is chillingly sardonic
(D2 Ch. 25).
Terfel’s sadistic portrayal is also illustrated by his physical
dominance and treatment of Leporello sung by Ferruccio Furlanetto.
A native Italian he relishes the many recitatives whilst the
Catalogue Aria flows from his tongue with relish (D1 Ch.
10). Throughout his acting is of the highest order as he alternately
fears his master or, after a suitable bribe, manoeuvres to facilitate
the next seduction or rape.
As
Donna Anna, the opera’s first victim of Don Giovanni’s amorous
intentions, Renée Fleming sings ravishingly with a wide palette
of vocal colour. This is evident over the whole range of her
wide range and particularly in the higher tessitura where so
many sopranos are found wanting. Her rendering of the recit
and aria Non mi dir (D2 Chs. 21-23) is a vocal highlight
of the performance. Miss Fleming’s acting conveys both the vulnerability
and steely resolve of Donna Anna although she cannot overcome
the directors rather clumsy managing of the first scene when
Don Giovanni emerges from her bedroom. Paul Groves as her betrothed
sings the two tenor arias in this combined version with elegant
phrasing and a nice balance between heady tone and steely resolve
(D1 Ch. 25 and D2 Ch. 15). He manages to appear less of a wimp
than is often the case. Solveig Kringelborn convincingly portrays
the lovelorn Donna Elvira. Her whiter tone is distinctly different
than Fleming’s and lacks some vocal colour. Nonetheless her
singing and acting, particularly her facial expressions, convey
the emotionally tortured and mixed up Donna Elvira. Her rendering
of the recit and aria Mi tradi, added for Vienna,
was well received but not ideally steady across the range (D2
Chs. 16-17). Donna Elvira’s parading across the stage in the
final scene carrying an opened parasol was another of the producer’s
less felicitous ideas. The Zerlina of Hei-Kyung Hong is convincingly
acted and sung. Her lyric soprano is flexible and expressive
and with a pleasing richness of tone making her Batti, batti
o bel Masetto another vocal delight (D1 Ch. 29). As her nearly cuckolded lover Masetto, John Relyea’s acting and
facial expressions have more variety than his firm toned and
well tuned singing.
James
Levine’s Mozart has no great distinction. He moves the music
along without seeking to convey anything of the evolving drama.
He is content to support the breathing and phrasing of his singers
and is careful not to drown their voices. These are considerable
virtues. They are preferable to maestri who pull Mozart’s carefully
considered tempi around and also allow the words to be heard
throughout a 4000-seat auditorium, particularly when the diction
of all the singers in this performance is of a standard too
often lacking. I am sure Peter Stein’s production in Chicago
will have had many more considered and illuminating moments
than are found here. It too was superbly cast. As well as featuring
Terfel’s farewell to the role of Don Giovanni, Karita Mattila
was singing her last Donna Anna whilst Susan Graham was dipping
her toes into the waters of the soprano fach for the first time
as Donna Elvira. That production may appear on DVD. In the meantime,
this well sung performance in traditional sets and costumes
will meet most needs and provide much enjoyment.
Robert J Farr
see also Review
by Tony Haywood
Don Giovanni, Bryn Terfel (bar); Leporello, Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass);
Don Ottavio, Paul Groves (ten); Masetto, John Relyea (bar); Anna, Renée
Fleming (sop); Elvira, Solveig Kringelborn (sop); Zerlina, Hei-Kyung Hong
(sop); Commendatore, Sergei Koptchak (bass)
[180:00]
