In the three times I've seen Michael Grandage's new Don Giovanni for the Met, I've progressed from disappointment, to frustration, to outright resentment of its lack of substance. (Is there a modified Kübler-Ross model for coping with bad opera productions?) Its visual clichés I find increasingly reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera: red velvet, ostentatious chandeliers, torch-bearing crowds with pitchforks, and, not least, theatrical blasts of flame. For the sake of Gerald Finley's Don, and Bryn Terfel's Leporello, however, I went. Both gave vivid vocal performances of great beauty... and both had, apparently, decided to fill the dramaturgical vacuum with bass-baritonal hijinks. They were supported by very fine singing from the rest of the cast. Andrew Davis' conducting was fleet and energized, but alert to the dark undercurrents in the music. The dramatic propulsion provided by the orchestra (which could also be slyly insinuating, when such was called for) was most welcome.
Bringing the count of on-stage Wotans to 2 (and Hans Sachses to 3, as Bryn Terfel pointed out,) James Morris sang the Commendatore. His sound is leaner than customary for the part, but he had appropriate gravitas (and my sympathy. "How many times have you seen this opera?" asked my friend at the interval. "Stop acting surprised when he stabs the guy.") Shenyang and Isabel Leonard each sang well, and made a charming couple as Zerlina and Masetto. Shenyang made Masetto a goodnatured, shambling countryman, with dramatically attentive and nuanced singing. Having Leonard's sweet-toned mezzo and theatrical sensitivity made Zerlina both sensual and intelligent, and much more interesting than I usually find her. She made the social and sexual tensions of her scenes with Don Giovanni and Donna Elvira vivid, and even "Batti, batti" was beautiful. Matthew Polenzani made a very earnest Don Ottavio, eager to comfort but slow to understand. He shaped "Dalla sua pace" elegantly, and brought a welcome urgency to "Il mio tesoro." Marina Rebeka brought unexpected and welcome fierceness to the role of Donna Anna. She seemed more secure in the role than in the autumn, and sang strongly throughout. As Donna Elvira, Ellie Dehn was, on the whole, vocally impressive. At the outset, she could turn shrill at the top of her range, but she sang with agility and intelligent attention to text. I would have liked a stronger sense of what she made of Elvira's past, and hopes for her future.
Bryn Terfel's Leporello was a near relation to Shakespeare's domestics and mechanicals, cheerfully lewd, and unselfconsciously rude (in the Elizabethan sense) of manner. This amiable manservant was capable of enjoying a joke at another's expense, but--unlike his master--fundamentally goodhearted. Details of gesture and inflection in his interactions with the Don were delightful, especially in his attempts to dissuade his master from flirting with Zerlina (and reluctance to be charged with intimidating the burly Masetto.) His treatment of Mozart's music and Da Ponte's text was masterful--and very funny--from his exasperated opening aria onwards. Gerald Finley made Don Giovanni an insatiable, unreflecting sensualist (and perhaps, also, something of a sadist.) In seeking to satisfy his barbarous appetites, he sang with vigor and unremitting beauty. His rich, dark baritone contrasted nicely with Terfel's, and he caressed text and music with great sensuality. As numerous critics have pointed out, Don Giovanni is--despite his record--not an successful seducer within the opera itself. Finley emphasized the Don's bafflement and persistence as being driven by a bewildered optimism. It made sense, then, that Leporello was the only one with a chance of breaking through his pathological self-centeredness. Not even Terfel's Leporello, though, could pull the Don back from his inevitable end.
Bringing the count of on-stage Wotans to 2 (and Hans Sachses to 3, as Bryn Terfel pointed out,) James Morris sang the Commendatore. His sound is leaner than customary for the part, but he had appropriate gravitas (and my sympathy. "How many times have you seen this opera?" asked my friend at the interval. "Stop acting surprised when he stabs the guy.") Shenyang and Isabel Leonard each sang well, and made a charming couple as Zerlina and Masetto. Shenyang made Masetto a goodnatured, shambling countryman, with dramatically attentive and nuanced singing. Having Leonard's sweet-toned mezzo and theatrical sensitivity made Zerlina both sensual and intelligent, and much more interesting than I usually find her. She made the social and sexual tensions of her scenes with Don Giovanni and Donna Elvira vivid, and even "Batti, batti" was beautiful. Matthew Polenzani made a very earnest Don Ottavio, eager to comfort but slow to understand. He shaped "Dalla sua pace" elegantly, and brought a welcome urgency to "Il mio tesoro." Marina Rebeka brought unexpected and welcome fierceness to the role of Donna Anna. She seemed more secure in the role than in the autumn, and sang strongly throughout. As Donna Elvira, Ellie Dehn was, on the whole, vocally impressive. At the outset, she could turn shrill at the top of her range, but she sang with agility and intelligent attention to text. I would have liked a stronger sense of what she made of Elvira's past, and hopes for her future.
Bryn Terfel's Leporello was a near relation to Shakespeare's domestics and mechanicals, cheerfully lewd, and unselfconsciously rude (in the Elizabethan sense) of manner. This amiable manservant was capable of enjoying a joke at another's expense, but--unlike his master--fundamentally goodhearted. Details of gesture and inflection in his interactions with the Don were delightful, especially in his attempts to dissuade his master from flirting with Zerlina (and reluctance to be charged with intimidating the burly Masetto.) His treatment of Mozart's music and Da Ponte's text was masterful--and very funny--from his exasperated opening aria onwards. Gerald Finley made Don Giovanni an insatiable, unreflecting sensualist (and perhaps, also, something of a sadist.) In seeking to satisfy his barbarous appetites, he sang with vigor and unremitting beauty. His rich, dark baritone contrasted nicely with Terfel's, and he caressed text and music with great sensuality. As numerous critics have pointed out, Don Giovanni is--despite his record--not an successful seducer within the opera itself. Finley emphasized the Don's bafflement and persistence as being driven by a bewildered optimism. It made sense, then, that Leporello was the only one with a chance of breaking through his pathological self-centeredness. Not even Terfel's Leporello, though, could pull the Don back from his inevitable end.
Lucy,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are thoroughly reviewing these since I haven't seen any of the Met's new DON's. Did you see NYC Opera's DON in 2009? It was stunning, I thought. Can't wait to see their Cosi, also directed by Christopher Alden.
Anyway, isn't is sad the Met is stuck with this version for the next decade or two (thinking of the tenure of the Zeferellis)?
Hi Gale! I did see Alden's '09 Don G., but I'm afraid I didn't share the near-universal enthusiasm for it. The idea of focusing on social/sexual repression is certainly interesting, but at least in its presentation, I didn't feel that it sat equally well with all elements of the drama (Zerlina and Masetto?) Also, given the text, I feel that giving the Don a basically positive function of liberating (Vive la libertà!) everyone's true sexual desires is problematic.
DeleteAll that said (!) it's quite possible that I missed some subtleties of Alden's production (having significantly less opera-going experience at that time) and more than probable that I would evaluate it somewhat differently now, having had far more experience than I'd like of productions that are just dull. I am looking forward to his Cosi. I don't think the longevity of the Zeffirelli spectacles is likely to be an average production lifetime (or I hope not... as Wagner said, Kinder, macht neues!) Perhaps tangentially, this article by Anne Midgette may be helpful in thinking about why Michael Grandage--an imaginative director--created a Don G. which so sadly fails to display his talents: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/classical-beat/post/i-dare-you-not-to-cry-on-classical-music-and-critical-thinking/2012/03/02/gIQAcYVwmR_blog.html.
Even Zeffirelli's Don G at the Met didn't have the usual average life span of a Zeffirelli production -- it was pretty lacklustre, and it was replaced pretty quickly by Marthe Keller's production, which nobody liked either. Grandage was worth a shot, I just think he was doing too much last year to really give it the attention it warranted.
Delete@stray Thanks for the info on Don Gs past... and the insight into Grandage's schedule. I think that's less depressing, and more plausible, than inferring he threw up his hands when confronted with Opera.
DeleteHonestly, I don't think we've made ANY progress since the Zef (other thn wasting a whole bunch of $$ - though just given wear and tear it would have been about time for replacement sometime about now. Still don't at all applaud the Grandage and unlike the Keller it has not, at least up to now, reached the level of blissful inanity and as Lucy says, grown more annoying on 3rd viewing.
DeleteI'm amused by your idea of operatic Kübler-Ross but think it would probably meet its match in the Wiener Staatsoper... There’s no saying how many stages their slapdash revivals of pseudo-Regie would require. Interesting to read about Finley by the way, he’s one of the singers I miss most from London.
ReplyDeleteThe mere phrase "slapdash revivals of pseudo-Regie" strikes terror to my heart! If I'm forced to endure many more productions which give me nothing to think about on the subway ride home, though, this model/parody may yet be developed.
DeleteFinley is a relatively recent discovery of mine (Really Shameful Confession) and I find myself continually re-impressed. I didn't realize you'd had a stint in London; though I've visited, it's a city I have yet to see an opera in (more Really Shameful Confessions.)
I spent a lot of time in Austria before I moved here, but am only a ‘Viertelösterreicher’ and was actually born and educated in the UK. So I’ve seen Finley a few times at Covent Garden.
DeleteMy Really Shameful Confession would be that I saw Die Meistersinger at the Met in 2004 and thought the production simply wonderful. I was (only just) still a teenager, but had been to the opera enough to know better. Incidentally, those were the days when you could show up a hour before the performance and still get a decent Agnes Varis seat.
About Grandage having much to do – I was in back in London at Christmas and saw a very respectable new production of Richard II he directed. But that was in December, this Don premiered in October, and while I have no idea what he did in between, I wouldn’t be so quick to put this down to a busy schedule. Our mutual friend Zerbinetta has written articulately on the differences between directing theatre plays and opera and her arguments are ones I’ve been in agreement with for a while.
Yes, I read Zerbinetta's post, and duly noted her opinion though I don't necessarily agree with her on all points. And as I wrote elsewhere, working at Donmar Warehouse and the Met are two very different things. But vis a vis schedule, Grandage's year leading up to Don Giovanni was Red (London/NY), King Lear (London/NY), Kabale und Liebe (London), then DG, then Richard II (London), plus managing Donmar and preparing to hand it over to new management right after that Richard II. (Josie Rourke has it now.) No moss on that guy, it seems to me.
Delete@Lucy, if he were going to throw up his hands when confronted with Opera, he'd already have done so, given he'd already directed Billy Budd at Glyndebourne and Butterfly at Houston Grand. And those seem to have gotten pretty good reviews, so...[shrug]
Es freut mich sehr dass die FDPL is pursing her research into Da Ponte Double Casting. Doch, a Scholar of Singing is fast bezwingt dass zu tun.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am even more freut that she herself has seems to have derived some Freude from the Erlebnis. Finley and Terfel were certainly worth it. My own vorliebe lies with Mattei who was nothing short of spectacular given that he had only 2 days rehearsal but Finley was in every way excellent and one can't help but observe how easy the role is to cast at the highest of levels. Still, Bryn was even in this company perhaps the star of the show and quite preferable to Luca Pisaroni, even though the latter himself left little enough to complain about.
The ladies were not quite as good. Rebeka was more than fine but at the performance I attended both Elie Dehn and especially Isabel Leonard were no better than pedestrian. I've never heard Dehn before and certainly wouldn't form a definitive opinion of her based on one performance. Isabel, however suffered from rough tone, lack of flexibility and unusual flatness. Since she was excellent in the role a few years ago and quite superb as Rosina earlier this season ( as I think we discussed at the time) I'm assuming this was just a bad vocal patch, or indeed, nur a bad night since she seems to have done much better at the performance the FDPL chose to grace with her presence.
On a completely different topic I'm compelled to observe the absence of a Khovanschina review. I had been hoping to go myself but was unable and for this reason would be especially interested in the FDPL's views if she managed to go.
Since time has been and will be rather constrained Elisir and Macbeth might have to be passed up. The FDPL's reviews, however, have piqued my interest and I really hope to go, especially to the latter since I'll also be seeing it this Friday and A/B comparisons of that sort in such proximity are quire rare. Also too, I must confess to a degree of enthusiasm for Macbeth that generally does not apply to most early Verdi and its rare enough that opportunities to see it should not be missed.
Welcome back! Schön zu hören, dass you have also been able to experience the Terfel-Finley partnership. The superlative quality of Giovannis and Leporellos has indeed been a treat. I agree that Terfel's vocal/dramatic charisma places his Leporello at the heart of the piece... and no complaints here! Rebeka I thought much better in the spring performance I heard than in the fall. I didn't notice the problems with Leonard that you mention, although she shone more as Rosina (and Dorabella, come to that.) The only other time I heard Ellie Dehn was in a concert L'Africaine with OONY (vocally accomplished, dramatically bland, but to expect more of a Meyerbeer damsel in concert might be unreasonable.)
DeleteViel Glück with all the things constraining your time. Elisir is silly but delightfully sung. Macbeth has significantly fewer oom-pah-pah inclinations and significantly more witches and murderers than much early Verdi, so what's not to love? Central characters who leave moral scruples by the wayside are also an interesting rarity in his oeuvre. Will be interested to compare impressions if you go. I did see Khovanshchina (at the last performance! finally!) Was going to skip blogging it in interests of time, but may jot some notes at some point.