The Merola's Don Giovanni
The bad news: The Don Giovanni we witnessed last weekend seemed too big a task for the Merola program. Sure, the singing was stellar. And Donna Anna, Leporello, and the Don himself were admirably cast. But the cringe-inducing stage direction, as well as the evening's lackluster orchestra, would not let us enjoy the opera. Bummer.
The good news? Mozart stands up well to mistreatment, and the next Merola concert, the Grand Finale of the summer program, will showcase vocalists with showpieces with no aforementioned staging. (Happens on Saturday, August 16.)
Picture of Austin Kness (right) and Ben Wager, by Kirsten Locken/SF Opera
First, the stage direction (Catherine Malfitano), which tried too hard for us. There were some things that worked (the apparition of the Commendatore surrounded by ghosts turned out quite effective), but most gambits fell flat. (Granted, it was a shoestring effort, but still.) No prop or trap door to save the day.
Also, there was no consistent take on the play. During her entrance, Donna Anna would chase Don Giovanni, appearing successively angry, happy and juvenile, in a span of five seconds. Our reading would be: the guy attempted to rape her, she's pissed. But it ended up with her play punching her on the back (or was it a massage?) Anyhow: confusing.
And Don Giovanni himself? One minute he is playing with his servants (in a weird homo-erotic interlude, allowing Leporello to wrestle him down and kick him) and the next, he is humiliating them, using them as a table and force feeding them pheasant. There's a dark side to him, of course, but it comes out of nowhere here. The character was piecewise, and what seemed like a good idea for one scene trumped some sense of continuity. So dead-tired peasants all of a sudden perk up, and voila, they're dancing like they're on ecstasy the next minute. Should you tape and excerpt any aria as a youtube clip, it might look okay. But the whole, with its emphasis on trite and gratuitous slapstick, just ended up annoying us.
The orchestra was not crisp, and out of sync with the singers on more than one occasion. We cannot blame the conductor, Gary Thor Wedow, who marked every. single. beat. Well, maybe his hints were hidden in the crowd of gestures. And the first half harpsichordist (they switched at intermission) was a bit out of it. And when an aria works, like Donna Anna realizing Giovanni killer father, the seagull laughs above the Cowell theater fell into the silent, pregnant pause. Some days, it is just not meant to be.
The bright points then: the singing of the principals. Well, across the board, they were excellent. Donna Anna (Amanda Majeski) has the purest voice we've heard: effortless, nailing the right pitch as if laser guided, and crystalline. She also is quite beautiful: perfect for the role. Leporello (Carlos Monzòn): over-acting has never killed anyone, and he is hamming it up all right. But he can sing, he's smooth and he's fun. And Don Giovanni (Austin Kness) had the looks of the part, and the voice to carry the night. We'll forgive him a rushed "Fin ch'han dal vino" in a different time zone from the orchestra.
Zerlina (Joélle Harvey) petite stature lent an air of youthfulness which fit her character admirably, full of mischievous sexiness, and her voice was not undersized by any means. And Donna Elvira (Rena Harms) brought up some deep emotions. Oh, and we still like Ben Wager in his Commendatore cameo.