“Don Giovanni” returns to the stage – GBOPERA

Venice, Teatro La Fenice, Opera and Ballet, Season 2023-2024
“DON GIOVANNI”
Playful drama in two acts with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, from the drama “El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra” by Tirso de Molina through the libretto “Don Giovanni o sia Il convitato di pietra” by Giovanni Bertati for Giuseppe Gazzaniga
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni MARKUS WERBA
Donna Anna ZUZANA MARKOVA
Don Ottavio FRANCESCO DEMURO
The Commander GIANLUCA BURATTO
Donna Elvira FRANCESCA DOTTO
Leporello ALEX ESPOSITO
Masetto WILLIAM RUN
Zerlina LUCREZIA DREI
Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro La Fenice
Director Robert Treviño
Choir Master Alfonso Caiani
Maestro at the fortepiano Roberta Ferrari
Direction Damiano Michieletto, taken from Eleonora Gravagnola
Scenes Paolo Fantin
Costumes Carla Tetthe
Light designer Fabio Barettin
La Fenice Theater Foundation setup
Venice, 16 May 2024
Mozart’s Don Giovanni has returned to the lagoon, revived in the successful staging, signed by Damiano Michieletto, which saw the light at the Teatro La Fenice in 2010, winning the Opera Award for direction, sets, costumes and the entire staging, as well as the Abbiati Award for sets and costumes. Michieletto – whose direction is taken up by Eleonora Gravagnola – focuses on some crucial aspects of the drama, primarily on the chameleon-like traits of the protagonist, who – absolute dominator, even when he is not on stage or when he ‘appears’ in the minds of the characters – does not hesitate to take on the most suitable appearance to satisfy his own desires (as when he wears the role of Leporello) . According to the Venetian director, the moralizing ‘finale’ of Prague is indispensable in the economy of representation: the epilogue of a drama, in which the Libertine’s continuous debauchery finds just expiation in death. The director investigates the characters in their mutual relationships, starting from some psychological traits of the protagonist as they are indicated to us, at the beginning of the work, by Leporello: an “extremely licentious knight”, who “can’t accept anything” or who fails never to satisfy one’s desires, in the frantic search for pleasure. Not even at the end, faced with the Commendatore, does the Libertine have second thoughts, even though he is aware that he is racing towards self-destruction. It is a titanic demonstration of courage, which continues to fuel the fatal fascination of Don Giovanni, suffered by all the characters connected to him. Even after the Libertine’s descent into the Underworld, the story does not have a happy ending: Don Ottavio asks Donna Anna for her hand in vain; Donna Elvira retires to a convent. This, in summary, is the basic concept of direction. Let’s now move on, briefly, to the visual aspects of the show, filmed several times and about which much has already been written. The entire story takes place in a late eighteenth-century villa with unadorned rooms with walls covered in damask tapestries, partially worn, to which candelabras are fixed, which spread grazing lights, accentuating the squalor of those places like the restlessness often printed on the faces of the characters. The scenic apparatus designed by Paolo Fantin – functional to the unfolding of the drama – uses a mobile circular structure, which allows rapid passages of the action from one room to another, giving the viewer the feeling of getting lost in a labyrinth. If the walls are dominated by a “cold” pearly gray with areas dulled by time, the humble costumes of Carla Teti they have, similarly, dark colors, confirming the sense of general decadence. Through these claustrophobic spaces, those responsible for the show intend to visually express the oppression exercised by Don Giovanni on his victims. However, one cannot deny a certain effect of monotony in the continuous succession of rooms and corridors, with the same colors and architectural features. In other ways, there is no shortage of solutions that go beyond the usual ones clichés: for example at the moment when, listening to “Madamina, the catalog is this”, Donna Elvira throws away the letters she wrote to Don Giovanni, contained in a suitcase that Leporello is carrying with him; or when Elvira herself sings “Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata” while the stage machinery spins dizzily, as if the woman were struck by vertigo; or, again in the banquet scene, where for the Libertine – imitated in his debauchery by Leporello – the “tasty dish” consists of women. Diffusely vigorous and rich in pathos the interpretation of Robert Treviño, which we believe he has placed particular emphasis on – in line with the predominant visual aspects on stage – the tragic side of this “playful drama”, thanks to the support of an impeccable orchestra, in terms of quality and purity of the sound, which in certain passages reached a considerable volume, without however penalizing the voices, generally well stamped and powerful. As for the latter, Markus Werba offered a Don Giovanni is quick in his gestures and phrasing (as in “Fin ch’han dal vino”), as well as brutal (notably in the scene in which he beats the Commendatore to death) and seductive (for example, in “Là ci darem la mano” ), showing off an essentially lyrical voice. Scenically and vocally exuberant, the bass-baritone Leporello Alex Espositowho has been frequenting this role for some time, of which the singer – specialized in the “bad guy” parts – has highlighted the less edifying aspects, limiting the more exquisitely funny ones, which his stumbling should probably contribute to. Purity in timbre and at the same time a certain vocal weight he exhibited Francesco Demuro in outlining a rightly static and weak Don Ottavio, standing out in the two splendid arias provided by his part. A standout one tragic nature and hieratic composure characterized the figure of the Commendatore, thanks to the deep and stamped voice of Gianluca Buratto. Di’s voice is also dark in color William Corro, turned out to be quite a Masetto naive. Languid and pathetic is Donna Anna offered by the gesture and voice of Zuzana Markova, between soft inflections. Well outlined by Lucrezia Drei the character of Zerlina, in her struggle between the lure of transgression and the not exhilarating, but reassuring relationship with Masetto. Donna Elvira, proposed by, is tragic and passionate Francesca Dotto with a stentorian voice and effective gestures. The choir’s performance was excellent. Long applause from the audience after the end of the show. Repeats until May 25th