A large crowd at the Benedum last night got an equally large bang for its buck in a highly entertaining performance of Mozart’s perennial Don Giovanni – this time dressed in Krystine McIntyre’s snappy “film noir” production that kept the old classic moving at a fast and fun clip. Some of the music was missing, but such cuts are common, and even in Mozart’s lifetime arias were added or dropped to suit the talents of the cast on hand, and the concluding “moral” ensemble has come and gone through the centuries since the opera’s 1787 premiere. This epilogue is wisely among the omissions, as it would fall flat as an anti-climax to all that precedes it, and, truth be told, it can work the same effect on more “traditional” productions.
The stage settings were alternately stark, bleak or colorfully lit, depending on the scene, and the effective use of balconies and second floor windows gave the pictures large as life dimensions and realism. The costumes, from those of the principals to the chorus members, were in keeping with the era to which Giovanni and company were transported. In one of the best scenes, all involved dance a well choreographed number that’s great fun to watch, and the few moments of pandemonium at Don Giovanni’s showed that careful preparation and rehearsal time was successfully spent–with exciting results.
Many cigarettes were lit onstage during the performance, but the audience was assured that they were herbal – no tobacco is consumed or harmed in the course of the production. The audience, thus comforted, was also asked to exercise political correctness in the use of the “Pittsburgh Opera Mobile App,” which delivers “supplemental digital content” during the performance. It’s possible that I was seated in an isolated pocket of resistance, but much of the music last evening was accompanied by Bluetooth fiddlers who apparently were under the impression that they were whispering to one another.
But the most inconsiderate of them were powerless to mar the beauty of Antony Walker’s meticulous reading of Mozart’s score. From the symphonic overture, with its sonorous D minor cadence and lively D major allegro, to the diminished sevenths that swirl ominously about the doomed Don Giovanni at the opera’s conclusion, the orchestra gave yet another demonstration of its precision and stamina, and the audience made it clear in no uncertain terms that it appreciated the excellent playing that carried the evening. The chorus, under the direction of Mark Trawka, once again proved that excellent singing actors don’t always have character names acknowledged in the program notes.
It was a foregone conclusion that Corrie Stallings would make an excellent Donna Elvira, and she not only delivered the goods but exceeded expectations. She sang beautifully and was positively captivating in appearance and action. She dominated the ensembles and in her biggest opportunity, in the second act, she tossed off the intricate recitative and grand aria
Donna Anna (Rachelle Durkin), Don Ottavio (Kang Wang)
with a sparkling assurance that was quite thrilling. Rachelle Durkin, as Donna Anna, made a favorable first impression in her Pittsburgh Opera debut, pouring out the famous “vengeance” aria with melodic vehemence and the plaintive aria of assurance to Don Ottavio with much warmth and opulence. Resident Artist Antonia Botti-Lodovico sang and acted the part of Zerlina with a lovely tone and charming coquetry, particularly in the earlier scenes of the evening. With facial play and a few swishes of her skirt, she gave the usually awkward “Batti, batti o bel Masetto” (“Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto”) a subtle ambiguity, kicking one shoe then the other in her fiancé’s direction.
Tyler Zimmerman, another Resident Artist, as Masetto, was able to give the most sizeable display of his talents to date, and the chemistry between his character and Ms. Botti-Lodovico’s was palpable; the young pair contributed quite largely to the success of the evening. Kang Wang, another newcomer to the company, accomplished what tenors in the role of Don Ottavio rarely do – he gave the audience a believable understanding of why he
Masetto (Tyler Zimmerman) and Zerlina (Antonia Botti-Lodovico)
was the grand Donna Anna’s fiancé. Usually the character comes across as a bit of a milksop, trailing in the formidable lady’s wake for no obvious reason, but he sang and acted the part in a manner that conveyed a strength that frequently is lost. In a spot or two his phrasing was not of the smoothest, but seeing this role in the hands of a singer who could make something of the part was such a refreshing change that it didn’t much matter.
Musa Ngqungwana, as Leporello, was a vocal and comic delight. When he sang the famous “catalog” aria, detailing the extent of Don Giovanni’s lasciviousness to the mortified Donna Elvira, he had binders of pages and pecked at a typewriter as he added the latest names to the list of conquests. His is a bass-baritone of much warmth, and its carrying power seems to come with an ease somewhat uncommon to this voice range. He sang and acted his way through the role in a manner that won him a deserved roar of applause at the final curtain. Brian Kontes was Don Pedro, the “Commendatore,” and his bass voice might have proved a greater strength in the production had his onstage encounter with his murderer reverberated with the same volume as the first of his ghostly taunts from behind the scenes. Craig Verm, in the title role, hit the character’s bull’s-eye, both vocally and pictorially. He brought out the best and worst Giovanni requires, and by never overdoing either, he allowed the listener to love to hate him from his first scene to the last.
Leporello (Musa Ngqungwana) and Don Giovanni (Craig Verm) are unnerved by the ghost of the Commendatore (Brian Kontes)
Three performance remain, and the production is an excellent evening of entertainment, so for tickets and more, visit Pittsburgh Opera.
The Artistic Team for Don Giovanni –
Conductor, Antony Walker; Stage Director, Kristine McIntyre; Scenery Designer, R. Keith Brumley; Costume Designer, Mary Traylor; Lighting Designer, Marcus Dilliard; Wig & Make-up Designer, James Geier; Assistant Conductor, Glenn Lewis; Chorus Master, Mark Trawka; Associate Coach/Pianist, James Lesniak; Assistant Stage Director, Matthew Haney; Stage Manager, Cindy Knight
David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera
A Pittsburgh native, George B. Parous began his studies of music and the ‘cello in grade school before his interests turned to opera, its performers and history while in his teens. He has been acknowledged as a contributor or editor of several published works (the first being “Rosa Raisa, A Biography of a Diva,” Northeastern University Press, 2001), and is currently working on his own biography of the German-American dramatic soprano, Johanna Gadski, who sang at the Metropolitan during the “Golden Age of Opera.” A retired IT Analyst, he is an avid genealogist, and has traced his maternal line to 8th century Wessex, England. He’s been a contributor to Pittsburgh in the Round since 2014.
Categories: Archived Reviews