Semperoper Dresden.
Parkett Links (Seat R13-P10, 94 euros).
Story. Don
Giovanni boasts a long list of romantic conquests and encounters, this opera
talks about a few of them. It begins
with Giovanni trying to assault/seduce Donna Anna but is repelled/rebuffed. Donna Anna’s father – il Commendatore – fights
with Giovanni and is killed by him. Part
of the story is how Donna Anna and her fiancée Don Ottavio try to find Giovanni
to both avenge the attack on Anna and the murder of il Commendatore. Donna Elvira was abandoned by Giovanni and thus
dogs him and often points out to others the kind of person Giovanni is. Zerlina is about to be married to Masetto,
but is tempted by Giovanni. In all this
Leporello is Giovanni’s accomplice, although he often considers leaving his
master. The story then takes a
supernatural turn with the appearance of the ghost of il Commendatore. Giovanni doesn’t think much of the incident
but instead asks the man to dinner. The
ghost appears at Giovanni’s house, offers him a chance to repent, and
disappears after Giovanni refuses. A
group of devils appears and carries Giovanni away.
Conductor – Omer Meir Wellber; Don Giovanni – Ildebrando D’Arcangelo,
Il Commendatore – Alexandros Stavrakakis, Donna Anna – Elena Gorshnova, Don
Ottavio – Joseph Dennis, Donna Elvira – Iulia Maria Dan, Leporello – Evan Hughes,
Masetto – Martin-Jan Nijhof, Zerlina – Anke Vondung.
Screen grab from the video about this opera in the entrance foyer of Semperoper. This is Act 1 Scene 1.
On occasion, a modern stage setting works, this opera is
one of them. No doubt in large part due
to the timelessness of the story.
When the curtain rose, we saw a living room, with a large
window, and with several women sitting in a sofa, probably representing Don
Giovanni’s conquests. For Scene 2 this
set was raised to reveal a courtyard where the rest of Act 1 is performed. Some props were moved around to change the
scenery ranging from a courtyard to a ballroom.
A similar setup was used for Act 2, beginning with drunken guests in Don
Giovanni’s house, and ending with his dining room.
Most of the opera is a comedy that one can accept,
perhaps with a groan here or there for a bad twist. It ended seriously enough
with Giovanni being carried off, probably to hell since it was bright red where
he was going.
Our seats were again near the stage, so we had no problem
with the acoustics. I do not know Mozart’s
operas well enough to know if they all have this much recitative. I enjoyed all the singing, even though some
of the fast runs might be a bit sloppy; Mozart required a lot from the singers,
and they met the challenge.
The singers also brought out their characters in a
credible way, simplifying a bit: Giovanni with his devil-may-care attitude,
Leporello as the toady with somewhat of a conscience, Anna as bent of avenging
her father, Ottavio as the somewhat reluctant support of his wife, Elvira as
the spurned lover who still cares about Giovanni, Zerlina as the bride who wonders
if she can do better, and Masetto as the jealous and hapless groom.
The orchestra performed well under the excellent
direction of the (apparently) young Wellber, who conducted with great enthusiasm
and precision.
Curtain Call. From left: Masetto, Maestro Wellber, Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, Leporello, Donna Anna, Don Octavio, Zerlina, and Il Commendatore. (As far as I remember.)
The two familiar tunes are still there, and I thought I
heard another familiar one at the end.
Indeed I did, but it was from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, he put that
in so Leporello could complain there was too much Mozart. I sometimes feel the same, but not tonight.
Attendance was great today. There were some applauses after some arias,
but in general German audiences seem to watch all operas as German operas – don’t
interrupt the story.
We had a late lunch, so I didn’t eat anything before the
performance. It was raining when we got
out, so we didn’t bother to look for food – I had an apple and some nuts in the
room after we got back to the hotel.
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