Mozart : Don Giovanni
Chorus and Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Speranza Scappucci
This is a nice, handsomely designed production of Don Giovanni, that offers no particular insights into the opera, but nor does it clash with it at any point. Simon Higlett's setting, in mid-17th Century Venice, rather than 16th Century Seville, is a bit on the dark side, and I was glad to be sitting quite close to the stage for once, it certainly made visibility easier, but the Venetian carnival masks and exaggerated tricorns inevitably evoke Joseph Losey's film, and none the worse for it, on the whole. I did think that the demons who come to carry off the Don at the end (and who appear as statues in the Cemetary scene) reminded me somewhat of Doctor Who's Weeping Angels, but that was probably accidental. Sir Thomas Allen's production is simple, uncluttered and direct, without ambiguities, and while I know there's a good deal more to be extracted from this work than we got here, after you've seen something like Dmitri Cherniakov's re-interpretation for the 2010 Aix-en-Provence Festival, a straightforward reading can be a bit of a relief.
Vocally, the plateau is fairly sound, and very sound indeed when it comes to the title role. Jacques Imbrailo's lovely, honeyed baritone offered real seduction as the Don, which is, after all, an absolutely essential element of the opera. His Leporello was Peter Kalman, sardonic and a little sulky, darker timbred, as is proper, and there was a strong sense of complicity between the two. Ed Lyon, singing Don Ottavio, was a solid presence in the ensembles, but in his arias he demonstrated exactly why Mozart ended up writing two of them, for two different interpreters of the role. "Il mio tesoro" went well, the line flowing smoothly and generally good breath control, but the slow, static phrases of "Dalla sua pace" were at times insufficiently supported, and the voice came out distinctly wavery. Barnaby Rea was a competent, if brutish Masetto, but the less said about Jóhann Smári Sævarsson's Commendatore the better.
Anita Watson, replacing an indisposed Susan Gritton as Donna Anna, displayed a fine, clear, high soprano for most of the opera, but "Non mi dir" was, frankly, a bit of a mess, with very sloppy coloratura and taken too fast. Lisa Milne, on the other hand, was singing better than I've heard her in years. Much praised when she made her appearance on the scene a decade or so ago, I was never entirely convinced by her, finding her inexpressive, despite the intrinsic qualities of the voice. Something appears to have been sparked in her; here was a Donna Elvira of genuine character. Anna Devin was a prettily sung Zerlina, but not quite enough of a charmer; she needs to practise her wiles a little more.
The big problem of the evening - and it was a major problem - lay with the conductor and orchestra. All through Act 1, there were problems of timing, singers starting fractionally ahead of the orchestra, or vice versa, or lack of proper synchronisation. There were problems of balance between stage and pit, the orchestra often drowning out the singers' attempts at pianissimi, and the band as a whole sounded thick and sluggish. Act 2 went better from the timing point of view, the errors less obtrusive, but then Scappucci was pushing it hard in terms of tempi, and I'm inclined to blame the messy "Non mi dir" mentioned above as much on this as on fatigue on Watson's part. Scappucci is still very young and untried; either she doesn't really get Mozart, or she's still too inexperienced for a score as complex as this one. At any rate, the whole proceedings lacked clarity and precision, and it proved to be an unfortunate distraction.
So, a mixed response to this new Don Giovanni, desperately in need of a more experienced, or more inspired conductor, in a production that, though attractive, may not bear repeated viewing through a lack of real depth, but with several worthwhile vocal performances that offered some compensations.
[Next : 20th October]
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