Don Giovanni

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo da ponte

seen at Covent Garden on 10 July 2021

Jack Furness directs a revival of Kasper Holten's imaginative 2014 production of Don Giovanni using a set designed by Es Devlin with video projections by Luke Halls, featuring Erwin Schrott in the title role, Gerald Finley as Leporello, Adela Zaharia as Donna Anna, Nicole Chevalier as Donna Elvira, Frédéric Antoun as Don Ottavio, Zuzanna Marková as Zerlina, Michael Mofidian as Masetto and Adam Palka as the Commendatore.

It's an exiting production to watch, with a two-storey town house on a revolve alternately presenting a street frontage and access to many rooms and stairways which reflect visually the tortuous machinations by which Don Giovanni plans his seductions and conceals his identity where necessary. What could have been an oppressive or bland set is enlivened by a spectacular use of video projections onto the walls, windows and doors of the building, giving added perspective to rooms and corridors, and stunningly keeping pace with the revolving stage. There is further fun with these projections during Leporello's famous catalogue aria, when more and more names are 'written' onto the walls and doors; at other times we see the psychological stress of the principal characters matched by blooming swirls reminiscent of an almost demented animation. The Commendatore, once killed, lurked around the set, but so also did several anonymous women, presumably previous victims of the Don's attentions; they were swathed in white and so were at times almost invisible.

More important, operatically, is the cast and orchestra, conducted by Constantin Trinks. The two baritones, Erwin Schrott and Gerald Finely, are a dream combination, master and sevant playing off one another with easy confidence - the Don remained enigmatically detached while Leporello fretted and criticised but ultimately obeyed his master's whims. The three sopranos also delivered fine performances, though their varously ambivalent reactions to the Don remain problematic even with the finest singing. Donna Anna was hardly resisting seduction in the opening scene but described a different scenario to her fiancé Don Ottavio once her thoughts had turned to vengeance. Donna Elvira vainly hoped for the Don's fidelity to the last, despite crushing evidence that fidelity is of no interest to him. Zerlina, from the lower classes, was dazzled; would she ever be satisfied with Masetto?

Some concessons were presumably made to the current restrictions, in that distances were (fairly unobtrusively) kept and the final moralising chorus was sung off stage, but the production and the opera itself do not demand large forces, so the impact was not great. The brilliance of the music and the enrgy of the cast made for a most enjoyable evening.