I attended this at Covent Garden on Thursday evening.
It was the same production that I saw fourteen months ago, and some of the cast was the same. I had sat in the Lower Slips back then (two performances, one on the Left and one on the Right). This time I was in the Amphitheatre proper, in that delightful seat where legroom is restricted by a box containing wiring or somesuch, and where a small portion of the front stage is cut off from view, but where, in my experience, the acoustics are as good, and generally better, than anywhere in the house.
I have to conclude that DG is never going to be my favourite opera. It certainly has its moments, and the story is such that one can debate motives, characters and so on. But it's just too bloody long. Two acts each of 90 minutes, and plenty of scope for cutting...not that I would advocate cutting, but there are so many longeurs. Often the story advances during the most dreary musical parts, and the best music does little too advance the plot. Although that isn't in itself a bad thing.
I have mixed feelings about the Zambello production that plays at Covent Garden. I definitely prefer the Calixto Beito production that has played at ENO (don't know whether they have ditched it). I don't like the sets: so often Zambello sets seem to dominate the stage, limiting the scope for action and rendering much of the singing to the front of the stage where there is a risk if it being park-and-bark. And yet, there is enough intelligent direction of the cast, many of whom are good on the acting side anyway, that there is never any danger of it being static and formulaic.
Although there is scope for criticism, most of the cast performed well overall. There have been criticisms of the fast tempi employed by Charles Mackerras (as he took to the podium, a voice behind me exclaimed 'he's eighty two!') ; having heard Ivor Bolton's funereal interpretation I would say, the faster the better, please. However, I did find that the orchestra drowned out the singers on far too many occasions, and there was never really any sense of intimacy from the pit, which I think there should be. Although the chorus does appear, much of the singing is solo or in various ensembles of the principals.
There were various 'gimmicks' which were entertaining. Noticeable was the end of Act 1 when Don Giovanni was escaping the mob angry at his seduction of Zerlina - Simon Keenlyside shimmied up the wall, assisted only by a knotted rope for hand-grip - the wall was nearly as high as the proscenium, so this was no mean feat. 'He's forty-eight!' said a voice behind me. I do like the bit where Donna Anna and Donna Elvira intent on revenge arrive on stage in breeches and with guns slung across their back, looking delightfully boyish and seriously homo-erotic (although I found the previous outing of Anna Netrebko and Ana Maria Martinez to be more exciting). At the start of Act II DG and Leporello swap clothes and Leporello mimes while DG sings, I thought Kyle Ketelsen did a wonderful display of mugging, mimicking stereotypical park-and-bark singers who act via semaphore.
And the penultimate scene, the grand finale, when DG is sucked down into the fires of hell is a tremendous coup de theatre which doesn't pale on repeat.
Singing-wise Kyle Ketelsen was outstanding. Most of the rest were generally good or better. I concluded that Simon Keenlyside is too light a baritone for my liking, I would prefer a more bass-baritone sound. And I found his portrayal surprisingly two-dimensional; I didn't get any insights into the character, which was disappointing. Of the women, Joyce DiDonato was probably the best , but I preferred Ana Maria Martinez last time around. Marina Poplavskaya impressed me in much the same way she had in Don Carlo:a gorgeous voice that seems a bit rough around the edges, and graceful and poised on stage, but not a great stage animal. But there is something about her that says 'star quality' in big lights. I was disappointed with Miah Persson, who, when I have heard her before has sounded gorgeous. Robert Gleadow was excellent as Masetto. He impressed me in several small roles as a Young Artist and I look forward to his future in major roles. And I really don't know what to make of Robert Murray. I thought his Dalla sua pace was unremittingly awful, wayward of pitch and with really bad coloratura, but his Il mio tesoro was basically very good. And he had the most awful mullet-wig which did him no favours appearance-wise. Erik Halfvarson was more than adequate as Il Commendatore.
So, overall, a decent and basically enjoyable performance, but not one for the ages, and not one to give me any new insights into the work. The second cast takes over now, and while it doesn't lack attractive singers, I have no regrets at giving it a miss. One performance was hard enough work.
I took some indifferent photos at the curtain call which will appear in my Performance album in due course, but there are loads of proper professional ones from the production at Arena Pal
Next event is La Calisto on 1 October.
