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Don Giovanni
Music by Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Produced by Chicago Opera Theater
At the Harris Theater
205 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL
312.704.8414, tickets $17.50 - $115
April 30, May 3, 6, 9, 11
At 7:30, Sunday at 3
Running time approx 3 hours with intermission
Classic opera; modern staging
Review by Tom Williams
It has been almost twenty years since I attended an opera. I was intrigued by the music of Mozart so I accepted an invite to Chicago Opera Theater’s production of Don Giovanni on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. I was delighted with the production. I had no problem following the action despite it being sung in Italian. Between the overhead supertitles and the action on stage, I was able to follow the storyline. I was impressed by the fabulous Mozart music conducted by Jane Glover and her 40+ musicians. The moving and rhythmic score was anything but stiff or dull.
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The blood red set depicting a bordello complete with sexy whores and grouping patrons serves to heighten the hedonistic lifestyle of Don Giovanni. Iain Paterson plays Giovanni as womanizer and amorally evil soul bent on living for the pleasures of the moment. Surrounded by his manservant Leporello (Matt Boehler), we see Giovanni move from one female conquest to another. Donna Anna (Rhoslyn Jones), Donna Elvira (Krisztina Szabo) and Zerlina (Isabel Leonard) are the main woman in a love-hate relationship with Giovanni. All these woman have strong clear voices and sang their arias with heartfelt emotions.
Andrew Funk, as IL Commendatore, has his booming voice going while Ben Wagner and Michael Colvin sing their hearts out. I especially liked the vocals by Matt Boehler and Rhoslyn Jones.
Not being an opera expert gives me limited perspective here. Let me say that as a theatrical spectacle, director Diane Paulus’ production kept me engaged and enthralled throughout. The voices and the fabulous music together with the intoxicatingly sensual staging made for an enjoyable experience. I like that the singers were not amplified—the natural sounds was resonant and clear. The modern staging underscored the hedonistic theme. Who said opera has to be boring? Not Don Goovanni. I’ll have to catch more operas by the Chicago Opera Theater. Don Giovanni has hooked me.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2008
Review by Evan Kuchar
Chicago Opera Theater’s current production of Mozart’s classic Don Giovanni transports the centuries-old myth to modern times, moving the Italian countryside to an seedy nightclub. The set is washed in blood red—suggesting that Don Giovanni already inhabits some circle of hell—and is replete with plush couches and poles for the barely dressed gutter nymphs to bump and grind to Mozart’s sweet, delicate music. In addition to the whore-house chic of the ensemble, the other singers don assorted costumes that are a mélange of S&M, Armani, Hell’s Angels, and Marilyn Monroe.
Mozart’s opera is somewhere in between a drama and a comedy. At least, Mozart himself considered it to be among his comedic operas despite its tragic undertones. This production underplays the comedic elements and highlights the Don’s lecherous debauchery.
The legend endures, of course, due to the charisma and audacity it would take for someone like Don Juan to seduce such a number of women. His charm is in his steadfast espousal of his hedonistic lifestyle even in the face of death and less so in the complete disregard he has for his “conquests” humanity. Nevertheless, there must be charm in this character, a charm to seduce audiences like it seduces women, otherwise it would not endure.
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This production misses the charm and portrays the Don as a sleazy, scumbag who runs a nightclub doubling as a brothel—a character almost completely devoid of charm. He is, then, less of a lover of women, more of a misogynist; he seems more motivated by an evil desire to destroy women than by a lust for life’s carnal pleasures. The legend in this form would not endure. Perhaps, though, the legend has run its course and is no longer meaningful to our current society. Perhaps if we see the Don for who he really is, beneath the superficial charm and unctuous seducing, we can let go of this age-old archetype and let the legend go the way of Giovanni himself—sucked into hell.
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The singers were a mixed bag of talent. The lead, Iain Paterson as Don Giovanni, sings with a grand, lustful voice that suits the character but lacks some of the magnetic presence that such a cavalier conquistador would need. His affable sidekick, Matt Boehler as Leporello, also has a strong emerging voice and blends well with the other singers while retaining his individual tone. Both men are exciting to watch on stage due to their inherent charisma, though at times Leporello looks uncomfortable in his costume.
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Among the other men, Andrew Funk, as Il Commendatore, steals the show with his entrance at the end. His presence and the power of his voice seem to come from the beyond to dwarf Don Giovanni to prove that there are powers in the universe more potent than earthly pleasures. Ben Wager, as Masetto, spends most of the opera as raving, jealous lover—ultimately an unlikable character—but sings with an ease and a clarity that is refreshing. Finally, Don Ottavio, played by Michael Colvin, lacks the confidence, charisma, and voice required by the role. Instead of simpleton turned avenger through his love, he is a meager, sycophantic worm—hiding his weakness behind a veneer of leather: a poseur. Mozart gives the tenor several opportunities to demonstrate the agility and control of his voice, but Colvin falls flat on several occasions; his runs sound heavy and his long sustained notes seem strained.
Among the women, Isabel Leonard, as Zerlina, stood out as the most gifted. Ms. Leonard has a fresh, young voice that sings with a deep maturity. Her presence on stage is, at times, stiff and awkward, but in the future I am confident she will be able to better relax into her roles so that her body language mirrors the fluid transparency of her voice. Rhoslyn Jones and Kriztina Szabó, the other lead women, have passable voices but make up for any musical deficits with melodramatic physicality.
COT’s production leaves me feeling conflicted. I am a fierce champion of modernization, which can sometimes make old works seem fresh. But modernizing is risky business: a plot is often tied to a particular setting, and so by changing the one element, one must change the other. I couldn’t help but feeling that there was an irreconcilable rift between the staging and the music; I strongly desired for a touch of drum machine to accompany the MTV-style dance scenes. So, in the case of this production, the modernization seems forced and ends up muddling the plot. It is an idea that may work in theory but not in this manifestation.
The direction, in general, seems too eager to contradict the plot with physical language. This device could be used for humor, but in this case the humor arises unintentionally, and the contradictions make the characters seem more depraved than the libretto suggests.
The ensemble members, which constitute the hookers in lingerie and their patrons, give the impression that it is normal to be as perpetually lustful as Don Giovanni. He is no longer an iconoclast living his life in spite of society; he is the king of this alcohol-fueled orgy. When people from the outside come into this pit of sleaze, such as Masetto and Zerlina, they are cast as the outsiders. This results in a lack of contrast between the Don and his environment, and so Giovanni must exaggerate his sinister lust to stay a step ahead of the other patrons of this sex club.
I take issue, also, with the costumes. Don Giovanni looks like a 1990s cocaine kingpin. His servant Leporello looks like someone who fell off Berlin’s “Love Parade” into a 1970s porn about a white pimp. Don Ottavio, the vengeful lover, looks like a corporate middle manager going through a leather-clad midlife crisis. Donna Elvira seems like an insecure librarian who give up books to become a dominatrix. Masetto and Zerlina stick out as beautiful Italian couple, maybe from the 1940s, getting mixed up with the variety of decades and genres above.
If you could only go to one Chicago Opera Theater production this year, I would recommend going to the next production: John Adams’ A Flowering Tree. This production was entertaining (albeit, at times, unintentionally) but full of holes. It is a multi-faceted work that combines many disparate elements hoping to make a whole, so there are enough elements to keep you interested as you swim about in the sea of connections, contradictions, and clutter.
Somewhat not recommended
Evan Kuchar
evan.kuchar@gmail.com for comments
Date Reviewed: April 30, 2008
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