Sweden Mozart, Don Giovanni: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of Gothenburg Opera / Ville Matvejeff (conductor). Gothenburg Opera foremost stage, 2.12.2023. (NS)
Manufacturing: Co-production with the Greek Nationwide Opera and The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen. Sung in Italian with Swedish and English surtitles.
Course (unique manufacturing) – John Fulljames
Director (revival manufacturing) – Aylin Bozok
Set design – Dick Fowl
Costume design – Annemarie Woods
Choreography – Maxine Braham
Lighting design – Fabiana Piccioli
Assistant lighting designer – Neill Brinkworth
Video design – Will Duke
Solid:
Don Giovanni – Palle Knudsen
Commendatore – Mats Almgren
Donna Anna – Ida Falk Winland
Don Ottavio – Vassilis Kavayas
Donna Elvira – Katarina Karnéus
Leporello – Markus Schwartz
Masetto – Kristian Lindroos
Zerlina – Mia Karlsson
Gothenburg Opera’s new Don Giovanni is a co-production carried out in Copenhagen final 12 months. Director John Fulljames has set the story in a luxurious lodge in our personal time. Don Giovanni himself has packed his baggage and travelled from Copenhagen within the individual of Palle Knudsen, however the remainder of the forged are primarily common soloists of Gothenburg Opera.
Setting Don Giovanni in a lodge works nicely as a touch upon the transience of the title character’s relationships, however on this case the execution may very well be improved. Fabiana Piccioli’s lighting was usually quite exhausting and spotlit, with the characters casting distracting shadows as they moved in regards to the stage. The set usually felt low-ceilinged and will have made it troublesome for the singers to venture their voices. However when it was opened up for Don Giovanni’s debauched celebration on the finish of Act 1, the impact was spectacular, along with Will Duke’s gorgeous backdrop of fireworks.
Annemarie Woods’ costumes had been usually elegant, above all Don Giovanni’s very good fits. Mr Fulljames generally appeared to see the feminine characters from Don Giovanni’s demeaning perspective, however his humour is also on level; the lodge employees had been amusing caricatures and placing Don Ottavio in drag when he, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira infiltrate Don Giovanni’s celebration was good enjoyable. Ville Matvejeff’s conducting was light-touch and delicate to the singers.
Mats Almgren was a chilling Commendatore – particularly within the Act 2 scene the place Don Giovanni’s and Leporello’s encounter with the lifeless man’s statue takes place inside a meat retailer. The ultimate scene was spectacular each scenically and vocally with Mr Almgren well-matched with Palle Knudsen’s Don Giovanni. Kristian Lindroos was a warm-blooded Masetto, completely capturing his character’s combination of jealousy and love for Zerlina with a lovely and expressive baritone.
Mia Karlsson introduced each a beautiful soubrette soprano and nice appearing to the function of Zerlina. She was significantly particular in her duets each with Don Giovanni and with Masetto. Vassilis Kavayas gave Don Ottavio a beautiful lyric tenor, greatest when expressing his love and devotion for Donna Anna. John Fulljames appeared to make Don Ottavio a little bit of a fop however Mr Kavayas carried that simply with good humour and good appearing.
Ida Falk Winland’s Donna Anna was gripping, above all in a fiery ‘Or sai chi l’onore rapire a me volse’ after recognizing Don Giovanni as the person who killed her father. Her soprano had a terrific ping and her appearing was completely convincing as Donna Anna labored via horrible grief and thirst for vengeance. Katarina Karnéus had a terrific stage presence as Donna Elvira and an expressive voice, not afraid to be open to her character’s vulnerability. Sadly her function was quite truncated by ‘Mi tradi’ being minimize, leaving Donna Elvira a much less spectacular character than she must be.
Markus Schwartz had full rein for his nice comedian abilities as Leporello, participating in an excessive amount of bodily comedy. His agile baritone shone significantly in his many recitatives but in addition within the Catalogue aria. Palle Knudsen was very good as Don Giovanni, each inch the participant together with his tailoring, his mannerisms and his seductive baritone. He was at all times a pleasure to hearken to however was significantly excellent in a beautiful ‘Là ci darem la mano’ with Mia Karlsson’s Zerlina. Mr Knudsen’s capability to be spellbindingly seductive heightened the distinction when he confirmed the violent and smug aspects of Don Giovanni’s character.
Whereas there have been some disappointments for me within the staging this was nicely compensated for by the very good forged.
Niklas Smith
Taking part in till 11 February 2024. Virtually all performances in January and February have another forged with Hannes Öberg as Don Giovanni, Susanna Stern as Donna Anna, Viktor Johansson as Don Ottavio, Ann-Kristin Jones as Donna Elvira and Sofie Asplund as Zerlina. For tickets and actual dates for the 2 casts see the Gothenburg Opera web site.
