On Disappointing Dons

WARNING: This is the part of the blog when I turn into a sourpuss! Of course, repeated disappointments will do that to just about anyone.

Before I start, I think we need a recap; I don't think I ever summarized the plot or notes on Mozart's "Don Giovanni".

The story is pretty simple: Don Giovanni is Don Juan, adventurer and womanizer extraordinaire, and Leporello is his obliging and semi-unwilling servant. In act one, we find Don Giovanni running from one of his "conquests," a lady named Donna Anna whose honor he has tried to tarnish. Hearing Anna's cries for help, her father, the Commendatore, arrives on the scene and challenges Giovanni to a duel. The Commendatore is murdered. Giovanni escapes with Leporello, Donna Anna discovers her father's body, and her fiancee Don Ottavio attempts to console her. Meanwhile, Don Giovanni spies new prey, only to discover that it's really a former lover named Donna Elvira, who he promptly abandoned after seducing. She is bitter and vengeful and not about to let Giovanni out of jail free. To distract her, Giovanni has Leporello read her his catalog of the Don's conquests: "Old or young, pretty or plain, mistress or maid, they're all the same-- if it wears a skirt, that's his game!" 
In the next scene, a wedding party is in progress: Peasants Masetto and Zerlina are tying the knot. This doesn't stop Giovanni from making passes at Zerlina, almost successfully-- until Donna Elvira interrupts and takes Zerlina away. Just then, Don Ottavio and Donna Anna enter and ask Giovanni's help finding her father's killer, evidently not recognizing him. All is well until Elvira again enters to disrupt Giovanni's deception. Don Giovanni attempts to pass Elvira off as a madwoman, but Anna and Ottavio see through his trick. Elvira and Giovanni exit, and Anna finally realizes that she recognizes Giovanni's voice: He is her father's murderer. Don Giovanni holds a ball at his castle, with all the peasants attending (as well as Ottavio, Elvira, and Anna in masks). Don Giovanni makes further attempts with Zerlina, ultimately ending with his discovery and undoing. 

...But it doesn't end there! Giovanni bribes Leporello into one more escapade: Giovanni wants to trade clothes with Leporello in order to pursue Elvira's maid. Leporello poses as the Don and distracts Elvira for him. However, Giovanni's serenade has only just ended when Masetto and a band of peasants enter in pursuit of the Don, out for blood. Posing as Leporello, Giovanni misdirects the peasants (describing the clothes Leporello is now wearing!), and when he and Masetto are alone, Giovanni beats Masetto. Giovanni exits and Zerlina finds Masetto. Meanwhile, Leporello is trapped when Ottavio, Anna, Masetto, and Zerlina find him, planning to kill him despite Elvira's pleas for pity. Leporello drops the disguise and makes a run for it, joining Giovanni in a moonlit cemetery. There, they are confronted by the Commendatore's statue. Giovanni invites the statue to dinner. That night, as Giovanni is enjoying a beautiful feast, Elvira comes in and tries to reason with him. "Change your Life!" she pleads. When he refuses, she exits, and screams-- the Statue comes to pay his respects, and to extend an invitation of his own. In spite of Leporello's desperate warnings, Don Giovanni accepts, giving the statue his hand as a token. The Statue demands Giovanni's repentance, and Giovanni repeatedly refuses. At last, the statue drags Giovanni into Hell, where the villain's soul is torn apart by demons. For the finale, Elvira, Ottavio, Anna, Masetto, and Zerlina come into Giovanni's castle, only to find Leporello, terrified of what he has just witnessed. "Thus is the end of all evildoers," they sing. they contemplate their respective futures and the opera ends.

As I mentioned in "A Tale of Two Dons," there are essentially two different versions: The version Mozart debuted in Hungary, and the version he played in Vienna. The "Viennese" version has tons of extra arias and recitatives including Ottavio's famous aria "Dalla Sua Pace," a recitative and aria for Elvira in which she wonders why she pities Giovanni after all the times he has deceived her, and a duet between Zerlina and Leporello (which is often excluded in most recordings and productions).

When Mozart wrote "Don Giovanni," he invented a whole new genre of opera: The Drama Giocoso, or the jocular drama. He combined comedy and drama, a novelty no other composer had yet attempted. It remains to this day a masterpiece among operas: it has the perfect blend of humor, earnestness, realism, and the supernatural, music that is like the most perfect diamond, and a libretto composed of poetry like no other.

And now, a review:

I absolutely love "Don Giovanni," and I wanted to see what a full production of the opera was like, so I scoured Netflix and finally got what I was after.The cast is as follows:

Don Giovanni: Thomas Allen
Leporello: Ferruccio Furlanetto
Don Ottavio: Kjell Magnus Sandve
Donna Anna: Carolyn James
Donna Elvira: Carol Vaness
Zerlina: Andrea Rost
Masetto: Reinhard Dorn
The Commendatore: Matthias Holle

Conducted by Jose Montes-Baquer.

The setting was 18th- Century, and really lovely. The costumes were great, the sets were simple but effective, and there were some pretty nice effects. However, I feel like this production held a lot of disappointments.

First things first, before I tear this thing apart: Every single voice in this show is LOVELY. Absolutely stunning. If this was just a CD set, I'd totally recommend it. Signore Furlanetto was terrific and absolutely hilarious as Leporello, Thomas Allen was intimidating and slithery as the Don, Carolyn James was tragic and heart-wrenching as Donna Anna, etc. etc. etc. However, the blocking and some other production choices were wrong beyond wrong. One thing that really looked weird was Thomas Allen's hair: an obvious wig in the ugliest pompadour I have ever seen. The man has a pretty long forehead, sure, but the wig partially consisted of fake skin that extended his forehead, which is a BAD IDEA when you're piling hair on top of someone's head. And you know something? 10-inch-high pompadours weren't flattering on anyone then, and they certainly don't flatter anyone now. Secondly, several trios and duets, etc. were blocked so that all the singers did is just turn and face the house and sing. Come on! Couldn't the director have been a little more creative? Just a little?  Thirdly, Kjell Magnus Sandve's body language and facial expressions were just so stiff and cold. He practically didn't change the scowl on his face for the whole opera!

And last but most certainly not the least, the thing that always irks me: The Stone Guest Scene. I have seen at least four different versions of this famous scene, the most gratifying of which were in the films "Amadeus" and "Don Giovanni: Unmasked." Fire. Demons. Hell. Punishment. Awesome! But most of the other versions I see online or on DVD are so weird! In this one, for instance, the statue is just like one of those cut-outs at tourist sights that you put your face in and have a friend take a picture. it was a full-sized statue that just sat there on its pedestal while Mr. Holle's head stuck out the top and sang. It was silly! Mr. Allen grabbed onto its hand and writhed a little, and that was pretty much it. Lame!   

So now you know why I dislike this particular DVD. If this stuff doesn't sound like anything that would bother you, go ahead and get it and try it out. I'm just saying, to me, it wasn't exactly the perfect "Don Giovanni."

With that, I remain

Your friend and fellow opera-lover,

~R.M.