Not to dispute your enjoyment, but "the best production of Don Giovanni I've seen at the Met" is possibly a very low bar, since the last two productions (2011 Michael Grandage and 2004 Marthe Keller) were such duds. The Zeffirelli production before that was the first thing I saw there, so I wouldn't attempt to judge, but still it's been more than 20 years since the Met had a decent Don Giovanni.
I wasn't quite as taken with it, but definitely saw more good than bad and a workable production at last. Making Ottavio and Elvira seem like actual people is a major improvement. It gets a bit weird in the last scene of the first act, and I didn't think the handling of the Commendatore in the second act worked (his appearance at dinner is blunted if we've just seen him). Giovanni's end is a striking picture, but it's a bit like it's spliced in from a different production altogether. |
