Exactly. And if you're not going to have a sword fight, do SOME action during that music. They were just standing there staring at each other which made nonsense of the music.
Another point is that it wasn't a gun "fight", the Commendatore was unarmed and the Don just pulls out a gun and shoots him. This to me violates a certain quality of the Don's character. As bad as he is in most ways, there is a certain code that he doesn't cross. But I guess this was by design. Van Hove wanted to make him totally unredeemable which to me makes him less interesting.
As for the seduction scene, it is no novelty to have the recitative precede and segue into the duet. That's the way it's always done. There are still ways to stage it so that the musical plan of the duet itself is reflected in the action. This production failed to do that. |
