ETO Don Giovanni on tour

[aeolium]

Last Wednesday I saw ETO's production of Don Giovanni at Cheltenham. At first the grey and gloomy set almost gave the impression that we had reached the underworld already. It was split-level, with tunnelled exits leading off from the lower level as in catacombs, and a fire-escape linking to the top level. Yet the set and staging made reasonable sense and did not get in the way of the action and the performers, and the peasant costumes provided colourful contrast. The singers were very good - especially Matthew Stiff as Leporello and Camilla Roberts as Donna Anna - and most importantly worked well as an ensemble, with clear diction (essential with an English translation and no surtitles). What stood out for me was the performance of the orchestra under the excellent direction of Michael Rosewell: every tempo seemed well-judged, there was dramatic power where required and a high level of orchestral detail so necessary in this fantastic score. The only disappointment for me was that presumably due to the edition chosen some wonderful music was omitted: Ottavio's first act aria Dalla sua pace, the Don's aria before beating Masetto up early in the second act, and Elvira's recitative and aria In quali eccessi...Mi tradi. But this did not detract from a great evening, culminating in a fine denouement as the ghostly Commendatore appeared, backlit, from the catacomb tunnels, to haul the Don to hell.

It was yet again a reminder of what an excellent company ETO is, and how often their productions put to shame much larger opera companies with far greater resources. It was just a shame that the audience numbers were disappointing, the house perhaps half full at best.

[Barbirollians]

That's a shame - it was nearly full when it came to Sheffield . I wonder if ETO have thrown off their past reputation . I saw a Marriage of Figaro in the 1990s which was pretty ropey and I had not seen production again until their outstanding La Boheme last year .

I agree that this Don Giovanni is very good and a darn sight better production than the ROHs recent efforts . I thought Donna Anna was pretty stretched though in Non mi dir the night I saw it and the tenor singing Don Ottavio would have been better following the tenor at the Vienna premiere and declaring it too difficult !

The rest of the singing I thought to be very fine and agree about the musical direction and playing and in particular I agree that the Leporello Matthew Stiff was outstanding .

[jean]

It is sad that smaller companies get so little attention, not least on here!

I am going to see their Pia de' Tolomei in Exeter next month. I'll report when I've seen it.

[LeMartinPecheur]

The only disappointment for me was that presumably due to the edition chosen some wonderful music was omitted: Ottavio's first act aria Dalla sua pace, the Don's aria before beating Masetto up early in the second act, and Elvira's recitative and aria In quali eccessi...Mi tradi.

What you got is probably close to what WAM originally wanted and how the opera was first presented in Prague. Two of the arias that you mention were added later, Ottavio's actually as a replacement for Il mio tesoro in Act 2 for a tenor who couldn't manage all its notes Smuggling it into Act 1 to give him two arias has no dramatic justification even though WAM himself allowed it.

Elvira's aria was an addition at the insistence of the Vienna singer Catarina Cavalieri, who apparently demanded more chance for vocal display, never mind the drama.

Whatever their musical merits, don't these arias just get in the way? Ottavio's especially, but getting in the way is arguably what he does so well throughout the opera. He is surely the proverbial 'waste of space', however beautiful his music!

I can't find any historical justification for omitting the Don's aria that you mention, though Charles Osborne comments that its musical interest 'is not quite sufficient to sustain its length'. Ouch!

Mozart's willingness to change, and very arguably mangle, his finest operas in later productions has been widely remarked upon. Some of the other changes (Figaro?) are simply so poor that they are totally ignored. Those to Idomeneo are less easy to discard because they shift the role of Idamante from castrato soprano to tenor, an easier casting option these days but not without cost musically. Or so I understand...

[aeolium]

What you got is probably close to what WAM originally wanted and how the opera was first presented in Prague. Two of the arias that you mention were added later, Ottavio's actually as a replacement for Il mio tesoro in Act 2 for a tenor who couldn't manage all its notes Smuggling it into Act 1 to give him two arias has no dramatic justification even though WAM himself allowed it.

Elvira's aria was an addition at the insistence of the Vienna singer Catarina Cavalieri, who apparently demanded more chance for vocal display, never mind the drama.

Whatever their musical merits, don't these arias just get in the way? Ottavio's especially, but getting in the way is arguably what he does so well throughout the opera. He is surely the proverbial 'waste of space', however beautiful his music!

Thanks for that - I had an idea that it was the Prague version that was being performed by ETO, though I also thought that in Prague the opera had finished with the damnation scene and without the tidying up finale with its antichissima canzon, which was present last Wednesday.

I wouldn't mind Il mio tesoro in Act 2 being replaced by Dalla sua pace as I think the latter the finer aria - if you had to lose one, but really both are too good to omit. Just listen to Anton Dermota singing them in either the Furtwängler 1950 Salzburg Festival performance, or the later Krips recording, and you wouldn't be fussing about any dramatic justification!

I really don't agree with you about Elvira's 2nd Act recitative and aria getting in the way. It is both musically and dramatically justified, dramatically because she has realised that DG - who she believed had repented and come back to her - has in reality contemptuously played the fool with her, yet the aria shows that she still loves and pities him. It is both the only chance she has to express her reaction to the Leporello/DG hoax and the link to her later attempt to save DG from impending doom, which is otherwise inexplicable after what she has endured.

And Charles Osborne is just wrong! The Don's aria Meta di voi qua vadano is superb musically and dramatically as, surrounded by Masetto's henchmen in the dark, he progressively dispatches them to hunt for the disguised Leporello. It slowly turns the table on Masetto as the hunter becomes the victim. The assault scene just didn't work at all with the aria left out.

My own view on omissions and additions in Mozart's operas is basically: if it's musically good enough - and it almost invariably is with Mozart - then it should stay in.