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Editorial Board
Melanie
Eskenazi
Webmaster: Len Mullenger
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Seen and Heard Opera Review
British Youth Opera’s season of “Desire and Destiny” opened with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, given in a most innovative and professional production. Between them John Lloyd Davies and Bob Bailey succeeded in placing the work in a context that aided the convoluted twists of da Ponte’s libretto whilst allowing the audience to bring their imaginations to bear. It was a reminder that simple devices such as scenery flats can be powerful tools in the armoury of a stage designer when used with intelligence.
Simplicity, though, should not indicate a lack of atmosphere. Through adroit use of raked lighting, masked serenaders, refined use of the chorus’ presence and, most notably, dry ice in the penultimate scene, much was achieved to give the production gravitas and visual interest.
Such a backdrop also allowed carte blanche for the cast to explore their characters to good effect. The Don tends to be given as a sex obsessed libertine or something rather more sinister. Viktor Rud mixed the libertine effortlessly with a slight seediness of demeanour to produce a character whose ability to charm still worked its magic with the ladies, but also could make the flesh crawl. Vocally the role held few problems for him and he used his rich and expressive baritone to telling effect. As his sidekick Leporello, George Matheakakis appeared to draw amusement from his master’s scrapes that in some measure compensated for his much-abused position. Though hardly less resonant of voice than Rud, Mathekakis made Leporello his own man, and their exchange of costumes worked well in Act II when attempting to evade the revenging clutches of Donna Elvira.
Alinka Kozári led the strong female cast as Donna Anna. A role notoriously difficult to cast successfully, Kozári had all the key ingredients: strength of character, vocal agility yet a certain implacability of tone. A singer to listen out for, I feel sure. Her father, the Commendatore, put up perhaps too little of a fight to defend her honour at the opera’s opening, making the Don’s victory ring particularly hollow. Vuyan Mlinde made the Commendatore’s revenge firm and inevitable in their later confrontation at the dinner of the damned. Superb singing in this scene. John-Colin Gyeantey’s Don Ottavio could in some respects have been heard as problematic. Yes, he was taxed by some arias, but in combination with his vacillating portrayal this merely added to the impression of Ottavio’s indecisiveness. That he spent much of the evening waving a gun in the air without the backbone to ever use it made him seem all the more useless, despite protestations to avenge his beloved Anna.
Pamela Hay’s portrayal of Donna Elvira was effectively acted – appearing every inch as a Marilyn Monroe-type blonde starlet – but vocally she seemed less certain in the higher reaches of the role.
Eliana Pretorian’s Zerlina was given with stylish singing and suitable impetuousness of character;imagination was displayed through bringing out many of Zerlina’s aspects – quick to fall to the Don’s clutches, but equally honest in her love for Masetto. George Humphreys acted the clumsy, naive, but essentially honest Masetto with some degree of effectiveness and his vocal gifts imbued the part with charm and delight.
In the pit, Alexander Ingram led the South Bank Sinfonia with care and insight through the score. If at times the orchestral scale was lacking a touch, this in no way prevented Ingram from drawing the drama in bold lines from the overture’s start. Particular mention should be made of Sergey Rybin’s harpsichord continuo playing. Overall, an enjoyable and involving evening.
Evan Dickerson
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