At least the opening bit—the
film during the overture, and some of the action in the opera box (and a few other bits)—is not safe for work (NSFW).
I try not to be a prude; but every once in a
while, I channel my Mom and purse my lips and say things like, “That’s quite
unnecessary!” Then I channel my Dad, who would say something like, “Well! How ’bout
that?” (…meaning, “I’m not sure quite what
to think!”)
As I do so often, I waited till (virtually) the last minute to watch the current production of Don Giovanni at La Monnaie; and I haven't seen all of it yet. So far, I’d say we have
a wig-fest for a sex-obsessed Donna Anna (Barbara Hannnigan, who seems like an odd
choice, but is quite effective.) And another freaking-out Don Giovanni with a foot fetish and some interesting oral fixations (Jean-Sébastien Bou, whom I’d love to like
better, but frankly he seems maybe the weakest voice in the cast—of course Don
G is often the weakest character.) And another ironic, patient, and tolerant
Leporello* (Bass-baritone Andreas Wolf, sounding charmingly baritonish.)
The entire cast seems fully committed to Krzysztof Warlikowski's vision.
Don Giovanni – Jean-Sébastien Bou
Leporello – Andreas Wolf
Donna Anna – Barbara Hannigan
Donna Elvira – Rinat Shaham
Don Ottavio – Topi Lehtipuu
Zerlina – Julie Mathevet
Masetto – Jean-Luc Ballestra
Commendatore – Willard White
Choeurs de la Monnaie, Symfonieorkest van de Munt/Ludovic Morlot
Stage Director – Krzysztof Warlikowski
*This is kind of off-point, but I think Leporello and Donna Elvira are my favorite characters in this opera. I’d like to see a spin-off for them!
Thank you for posting, and OMG, WOW! I bet Mozart would have loved this. Too much porno for me, but I kinda got used to it because I was so bedazzled by the singing. All the singers, their gorgeous voices and their acting, were wonderful. I really liked the Giovanni and think the only weak voice was Don Ottavio. I don't get the very tepid audience applause at the end. It sounded like there were only 30 people in the audience!
ReplyDeleteI would love to read more reviews and reactions. I'm very conservative and hardly ever connect with modern productions, usually feeling they detract from the story and emotions of the characters, but this made clear the Don's excessive debauchery, also revealing the (not so) repressed feelings of the women. I was most shocked at Don Ottavio's end (spoiler alert!), but it fits in with Donna Anna's attitude toward him.
What a contrast this is to what I will be seeing at the Met in 2 weeks. After watching this, I'll probably be bored stiff! Thanks again, and please give us your own review.
Glad you caught it in time. Yes, the audience seemed non-plussed. And you'd think in Brussels they'd be used to this kind of thing. I don't necessarily want to hang out with these characters, but I find them hard to look away from. The performers are engaged, and therefore engaging.
DeleteFunny you should mention the Met. I started watching the Met's new Figaro on PBS and I was very disengaged. The performers seemed so focused on mugging at the audience and not terribly engaged with one another.Where is the Personenregie? I suppose I should reserve full judgement till I see the second half, but I was disappointed in the Met this time.
I thought I was losing faith in contemporary productions, but I think it comes down to -- not what the production looks like, but what are they doing there on stage. Warlikowski may have some odd ideas, but he knows his Personenregie.
I think I have a new post brewing about engaging and dis- or non-engaging opera staging vs. Regie and "traditional" staging of opera...
Don Giovanni justs goes on giving. I'm off to see the Tcherniakov on Friday. Fascinating cast. Russell Braun, Kyle Ketelsen, Michael Schade, Jane Archibald and Jennifer Holloway. It's even got my perky friend Sasha Djihanian as Zerlina.
ReplyDeleteI've seen most of the video of Tcherniakov's version from Aix. I remember fascinating characters and lengthy scene changes. I look forward to your impressions of the live performance!
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