Opera
Australia
State Theatre, late
April to May, 9, 1997
Reviewed by Kate
Hebert around 25 April, 1997
Mozart's Don Giovanni
is an odd blend of the comic and tragic - but then so was Wolfgang himself.
Stephen Bennett, in the role of the grand seducer, relishes
every sexy moment. It falls to the lot of Don Giovanni (you may know him as Don
Juan) to ravish every single woman on the planet.
According to his servant Leporello's (John Pringle) little
black book of names, the naughty Don is up to 1,800 seductions, 1,003 of who
are in his native Spain. Chances of his running into "a woman
scorned" at the milk bar are pretty high and, as we see from Donna
Elvira's (Maria Pollicina) actions, hell really doth have no fury like...etc.
Revenge really is a dish best eaten cold, even if Elvira has
second thoughts about him on the way to his come-uppance. He's a right bastard
and he deserves every thing he gets in the line of Hell-fire.
Lindy Hume's production, based on that of Carl Friedrich
Oberle, is staged quite traditionally on a single (economical?) set of a stony
palazzo. But there is nothing plain about the leads' voices. Bennett's
wonderfully rich baritone supports his rakish swagger throughout and particularly
in "La ci darem la mano".
Pollicina's soprano has both sweetness and strength. As the
nearly-violated Donna Anna, Rosamund Illing displays exceptional control and
subtlety in her aria "or sai chi l'onore".
Tenor Yu Jixing as her fiance Don Ottavio has impeccable
phrasing and a clear tone while Arend Baumann as the murdered father of Anna
was suitably forbidding. Pringle's Leporello was a warm and light presence that
might have gone further with the comic characterisation.
The sextets, typical of Mozart, were beautifully balanced
with a fine interplay of voices and the orchestra, conducted by Roderick
Brydon, was in excellent form. This is a delightful production of the Don.
By Kate Herbert
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