Wednesday 26 October 2016

The wages of sin Don Giovanni. Don Juan Casanova


On Saturday 22nd October 2016, I went to see a relayed production of Don Giovanni from the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Centre New York, having previously seen a relay from the Royal Opera House, in London in February 2014, shortly after I had written to Secretary of State for Education, Northumbria Police and Sunderland Council that I had become aware of moves to hold a comprehensive inquiry into past crimes against children in care and giving my views on what was needed.

I published the following notes on the experience beginning not knowing much about the opera by Mozart which I had experienced for the first time by relay to the Cineworld, Bolden on a cold and windy evening and where on I arrival we were told that strong winds   were affecting the world-wide relay and that interruptions could be anticipation. During the first half of the opera there were three breaks, fortunately of no longer than 3 mins and a loss of the subtitles in two instances. The management rallied providing little cups of chocolate during the intervals was not hot and I did not enjoy but then issues a free pass in compensation for another event of similar cost which was splendid.

The opera is extraordinary with eight principal roles and in true Mozart style there are several instances where almost everyone is involved in groups, in couples in quick succession so while there is no great aria compared to Puccini, Verdi one sits marveling and at times overwhelmed. For once at least six of the singers had the physique and were of an age to reflect the roles they were playing and the other two were passable., The set was also one of the most extraordinary if not the most extraordinary and creative then experienced. A mansion on several floors which revolves close to the front of the stage and upon which there were constant projections throughout successfully reflecting the mind of Don Giovanni based on the legend of Don Juan supposed taking to his bed, so to speak over 2000 women of all ages and descriptions during his short life before he is left in the hell of isolation.

The set at the Metropolitan Opera was similar in terms of the three-level building, but darker and with the imaginative projects. In the past, I have said that I thought the Met always looked for ways of providing a spectacle where greater confines of the Royal Opera House meant less special effects with consequently attention focused on the singing and actor, although the comment was intended to suggest the acting and singing was any less but that there were distractions the Royal Opera House.

The information about Don Giovanni is projected on to the building. Don Juan is a mythical figure but Casanova is not and I own a small biography by Bonomy Dobree a which attempt to separate myth from the reality of what is actual known from his writing and other contemporary documentation. The book is part of a Men of Destiny series and is mentioned because of the extraordinary speech made by the singer who plays Don Giovanni, Simon Keenlyside, who appeared to be making a calculated and planned case for the kind of sexual freedom Libiteranism which would have horrified what is known as Middle America and the bible belt. The interviewer appeared surprised by this outburst where usually there is references to the role, forthcoming roles, the excellences of working colleagues, the Director of the work and its conductor. Simon appeared to me to be making an attack on the new puritanism and, reminding of revolutionary freedoms which at one level sound a plea for sympathy for this ruthless, rapist and seducer without any regard of the impact of his behaviour on the subsequent lives of his victims, especially those from the peasant class who lack any of the protection and support given to those of his peers.

Bryn Terfil, the Welsh baritone provided the oral introduction to the two acts of the opera of 95 and 85 minutes while the programme notes to the performance at the Royal Opera House in 2014 while the Met notes provide a summary. Seville, Spain, in 1700’s and the father of the first heroine Donna Anna is describe as the Commendatore, an Italian Order of chivalry but used here I believe someone of senior nobility and therefore the rape/seduction of his daughter by a masked stranger becomes such a matter of honour that he feels obliged to fight the young man and is killed, Donna Elvira has a fiancé who she presses to avenge her father.  Another of his conquest Donna Elvira who remains in love has followed him to Seville.

The community celebrate the wedding of two peasants with Don Giovanni on the lookout for new conquests attends and his trusted manservant. Donna Anna who also attend and has befriended Elvira recognizes the voice and presses her fiancé to gain revenge. Don Giovanni focusses on the seduction of the bride inviting the wedding party to his Palatial home. The attempt to seduce the bride fails and the attack is blamed on his servant after clothing been the two men has been swapped. The two women and the fiancé attend the Palace wearing masks to confront Don Giovanni who retreats leaving his man servant behind.

This does not prevent Don Giovanni turning the head of the maid of Donna Elvira, the fiancée and young married couple finding the man servant alone and turning on him until he admits the truth about his master. He too escapes and meets up with Don Giovanni where they come across the statue of the Commendatore. As a joke the statue is invited to Palace for a meal. In the Met production, the meal is presented as a bawdy party combining food and sex, (cannot immediately remember the name of the film the film about this subject which I suspect influence the scene setting. The ghost of the murdered man arrives and gives Don Giovanni ad invitation which is refused and the womanizer is consumed by the eternal fires of health as his future form of immortality., one aspect of the film Dr Strange I was to see a few days later. The victims and their menfolk rejoice. Donna asks for more time before marriage. The impact of Don Giovanni continues to affect their lives.

Wikipedia provides the titles of the arias, duets and combinations of voice, “Don Giovanni's servant, complains of his lot ("Notte e giorno faticar" – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni rapes or seduces the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. When the two appear, Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna is holding onto his arm. Something has happened and she insists on knowing his identity (Trio: "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel. Donna Anna flees into the house. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!" – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!").

Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace

Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking to wreak her revenge ("Ah, chi mi dice mai" – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but he is the wretch she is seeking. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.

Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth it. His conquests include 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("Madamina, il catalogo è questo" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.

They leave, and a marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry ("Ho capito! Signor, sì" – "I understand! Yes, my lord!"). Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "Là ci darem la mano" – "There we will entwine our hands").

Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction ("Ah, fuggi il traditor" – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna's father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to the attacker, pleads for Giovanni's help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: "Non ti fidar, o misera" – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer (Anna aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). Ottavio, not convinced, resolves to keep an eye on his friend ("Dalla sua pace la mia dipende" – "On her peace my peace depends").

Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": "Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa" – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.

Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him ("Batti, batti o bel Masetto" – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both to his ballroom, which has been lavishly decorated. Leporello invites three masked guests to the party: the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira. Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: "Protegga il giusto cielo" – "May the just heavens protect us").

Scene 3 – Finale: Ballroom As the merriment, featuring two separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.

Act 2

Scene 1 – Outside Elvira's house

Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Elvira's maid, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quite unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open dressed as Giovanni. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. ("Deh vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").

Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (dressed as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way"), Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").

Scene 2 – A dark courtyard

Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice, what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his identity. He begs everyone's forgiveness and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance ("Il mio tesoro" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[16] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me").

Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant's protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the sacrilegious one who gave me death" (Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most kind statue"). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.

Scene 4 – Donna Anna's room.

Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").

Scene 5 – Don Giovanni's chambers

Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: "O quanto in sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti's Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, "Non più andrai" from Mozart's own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[17] (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (sostegno e gloria d'umanità). Hurt and angered, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering, outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor music from the overture now accompanying the bass voice ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue sinks into the earth and drags Giovanni down with him. Hellfire, and a chorus of demons, surround Don Giovanni as he is carried below.

Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna's year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.

The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" ("Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual"). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today's conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera. “
These summaries and descriptions cannot communicate the power of the various combinations of voice with every soloist in the production appearing to vie to command our attention and admiration. Adam Plcechetka as the man servant; Paul Appleby as the loyal fiancé, Zerna Malfi as the bride, Malin Bystrom was Evira and Hibla Gerzmava- Donna Anna. Matthew Rose jealous and doubting husband while Kwangchow Youn impressive as the Commendatore

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