SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Mozart, Don Giovanni: (Concert Performance) Soloists, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus, Robin Ticciati (conductor), Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 7.10.2010 (SRT)

Don Giovanni � Florian Boesch

Donna Anna � Susan Gritton

Donna Elvira � Kate Royal

Don Ottavio � Maximilian Schmitt

Leporello � Vito Priante

Zerlina � Malin Christensson

Masetto � David Soar

Commendatore � Rafal Swiek

If anyone is looking for proof of the health of Scottish music-making in general and the SCO in particular then look no further than this, their season opener. Robin Ticciati has served ten months as the SCO�s Principal Conductor, but this is his first season opener. Yesterday the news came through that he has extended his contract to 2015 and, if this evening�s concert is anything to go by, this can only be good news for lovers of good music in Scotland.

A concert performance of this opera brings the advantages of focusing purely on the music and of pointing up the role of the orchestra more so than usually. The SCO�s recordings of Mozart�s operas, often with the late Sir Charles Mackerras, to whom this concert was dedicated, have long been recognised for their quality and their virtuosic playing tonight underlined how much they are inside this music. Ensemble and cooperation are always at the heart of what this orchestra do and the sense of collective authority oozed out of every bar. There were also some lovely individual moments, such as the cello obligato in Batti, batti or the show-stealing mandolin for the serenade, but this was fundamentally a collective enterprise whose whole was far greater than the sum of its parts.

The cast was sensational, without a single weak link. The two donne were individually outstanding. Susan Gritton�s Anna was a massive voice to make the rafters ring, but she controlled it superbly and her two big arias were stunning, pulling off the extraordinary feat of making Mozart�s avenging angel utterly believable and even somewhat sympathetic. Kate Royal�s Elvira, in contrast, was a creature of wounded dignity who nevertheless found the correct element of hysteria when necessary, such as in the Act 1 Quartet. Schmitt�s Ottavio didn�t quite break out of the prudishness often associated with Ottavio, but his golden tenor, mellifluous and honeyed, was a delight to listen to, the runs in Il mio Tesoro sounding clipped and precise. Malin Christensson and David Soar were a charming peasant couple and Rafal Swiek�s cavernous bass had the sepulchral authority the Commendatore needs. As the Don, Florian Boesch had a voice as rich and versatile as this most chameleonic role requires, sinister and defiant at times but never losing the charm so important to the great seducer. He came dangerously close to being upstaged, however, by the exceptional Leporello of Vito Priante. His was a truly exciting voice; virile, exciting and energetic. He is also possessed of a genuine comic talent.

Ticciati himself showed remarkable confidence in shaping the great score, by turn conjuring the volcanic intensity of the damnation scene or massaging the gentle textures of Vedrai, carino. He gave just the right amount of attention to period style: natural brass and timps lent a real edge to those famous D minor chords of the overture as did the vibratoless strings, but adding vibrato selectively made, say, the coda of Dalla sua pace all the more beautiful. Tempi were on the whole well chosen, even if the damnation scene was rather speedy.

As an artistic statement of intent this evening�s concert takes some beating. A concert performance of one of the greatest works in the western musical tradition is a big task to pull off, but to do it so triumphantly with such a great cast is truly exceptional. It bodes extremely well for the season ahead.

 

Simon Thompson