SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Mozart, Don Giovanni: Dallas Opera, Nicolae Moldoveanu (conductor), Winspear Opera House, Dallas, 5.11.2010 (LV)

Cast:

Don Giovanni: Paulo Szot

Donna Anna: Claire Rutter

Donna Elvira: Georgia Jarman

Don Ottavio: Jonathan Boyd

Leporello: Mirco Palazzi

Zerlina: Ailyn Perez

Masetto: Ben Wager

Il Commendatore: Morris Robinson

Conductor: Nicolae Moldoveanu

Director: John Pascoe

Production Designer: John Pascoe

Costume Designer: Ingeborg Berneth

Lighting Designer: Jeff Davis

Chorus Master: Alexander Rom

Picture © Karen Almond

The year-old Winspear Opera House may have the look of a department store, but at least it looks a department store dedicated to the performing arts, with lots of lights and wonderful lines of perspective. Once inside, however, the warmth and subtle hints of wealth kick in, and the house's place in Downtown Dallas's arts mall makes perfect sense. Especially for a production in which the personality of the hero/villain finally makes perfect sense: Paulo Szot's Don Giovanni was the man Mozart wanted to be, strong in both the macho masculine and the darkly feminine. If this sounds heavy, it was anything but.

The strong proscenium framing of the stage is like an HD screen with a wide horizontal, "letterbox" display. Whether the restrained use of swirled, white-gold facings on the balconies and around the ceiling is a factor in dispersing the sound, as whipped-cream visuals they make you feel comfortable in your seat. The sound is excellent: the singers project easily, wherever they are on the stage; the orchestra in the pit blends well, particularly for important instrumental solos like principal cellist Mitch Maxwell's immaculate playing for Zerlina's "Batti, batti."

Director John Pascoe's concept, which debuted a few years ago at National Opera in Washington, DC, is the kind that Mozart must have dreamed about. It was wild, wacky, uncontrollable and unpredictable. Conductor Nicolae Moldoveanu barely held together the disparate parts of tragedy, comedy and scenery design, which was also Pascoe's work. The dazzling effect was so sensationally diverting that the fairy-tale essence of the story made completely no sense, as no mature Mozart opera does except in the broadest outlines. That set the details free to provide a constant source of amusement for an audience which eagerly ate up every line.

As I said, Paulo Szot's Don Giovanni was sublimely a rogue who dispensed his musical and personal charms to all comers with promiscuous generosity, feeling no qualms at deserting anyone at the turn of a pretty ankle, and going down for the count with the Commendatore with no regrets, feeling the screaming pain of eternal torment in every bone. After all, Mozart knew well that Don Giovanni was not going to be the only sinner in hell.

The brilliance of the concept hinged on not only its relentless spontaneity, but the turn of the focus to the wronged Donna Elvira (brilliantly sung and acted by Georgia Jarman) instead of the "merely" sexually assaulted Donna Anna (Claire Rutter). This focus was emphasized by giving Elvira a "love child" in swaddling clothes which either she or her nurse carried in their arms throughout most of the evening.

In such a no holds-barred theatrical approach, none of the cast could be anything but unique in their singing and characterization. Mirco Palazzi was a scintillating sorcerer's apprentice of a Leporello; his "catalogue aria" was a triumph, and his scurrying around was a constant source of delight. Jonathan Boyd sang more freely and thrillingly than most Don Ottavios ever dare. Ailyn Perez and Ben Wager made a pleasant pair of rustic lovers, one brilliantly trilling her way into men's arms, the other trying to maintain stability in the face of total chaos.

The only downside is that it will never happen again in just the same way. It's the ultimate justification for attending live performances.

Laurence Vittes