| Disagree (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: StanS 05:38 pm EDT 05/29/23 | |
| In reply to: Ivo's excellent adventure - DON GIOVANNI at the Met - singleticket 06:23 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
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| (This post contains spoilers about the production) While there are definitely things to like about this production, overall I would say I was disappointed from the staging point of view. We've gotten used to modern dress stagings of costume dramas and I can accept them in general. The main problem for me is that it often clashes with the musical style. But apart from that, there were too many instances in this staging where the music asked for some action and none was provided. A good example is the fight between Giovanni and the Commendatore in the opening scene. It's supposed to be a sword fight but you can't have a sword fight with the Don in a suit, so he just pulls out a gun and shoots him. Ok, fine, but what about the music Mozart wrote that clearly describes a sword fight (with slashes of scales etc). They just stand there staring at each other during this until Giovanni finally pulls out the gun. (Also Giovanni wasn't wearing a mask so it made no sense that Anna doesn't recognize him as her attacker later. ) Another example is La ci darem (the Giovanni/Zerlina seduction). Mozart plans this out beautifully to express a gradual seduction. First a whole verse just for the Don, then a whole verse for Zerlina, then one phrase for the Don, one for Zerlina, then they are musically interrupting each other and finally sing together. I have seen very imaginative stagings of this. But in this staging, the Don is right on top of her from the very beginning, leaving no room for the crescendo of seduction. There are many other examples of this lack of imagination and failure to let the music inspire the action. Also I felt the set, which was a set of drab buildings that never changes until the end, instilled an overall depressed atmosphere. Part of the greatness of Don Giovanni is the mix and tension between the comic and serious. This production to me overemphasized the serious. I will say that the ending, with the walls closing in on Giovanni and the images of hell-fire. was most effective. Musically I thought the production was mostly a success. The singing was mostly very good except for the Elvira, whose voice was inadequate (and Mi tradi was terrible, all chopped up with no legato line). Stutzmann's conducting was effective most of the time but I was sitting at the back of the Grand Tier and from there the orchestra sound was disappointing. When the "statue" (in this case ghost) enters in the finale, the sound of that gigantic chord was so pip-squeaky that I looked over to see if anyone was playing. It got better at the end in the hell-fire sequence and the softer lyrical passages were beautifully played. But I've generally thought that the Met isn't really suited for Mozart unless you have incredible seats. The intimacy required gets swallowed up. |
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