THERE are no makeweight roles in Don Giovanni. Every one of the eight characters is important to the story and each has his or her moment or more of operatic glory. The central partnership is that of the Don, woman-chasing, arrogant and domineering, and his servant Leporello, quick-witted and loyal (up to a point).
But the role that literally pulls it all together is the Commendatore – the father of Donna Anna, the first of Don Giovanni’s female victims in this story. He is murdered in the first few minutes and then disappears for most of the opera, returning for an unearthly scene in a cemetery where, as a massive stone statue, he speaks to the Don. His third and final appearance is at the ill-fated dinner at the Don’s house, where he pulls the debauched nobleman down into the flames of hell.
You have to have an actor of great stature and with a sonorous voice that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Presence and deep sonority – and Roderick Hunt has both. You aren’t looking for huge vocal flexibility – the seven other performers all had that – or physical agility – amply displayed by the Don, Leporello, Masetto and the various harassed women. You need a voice that thrills and makes you almost tremble … and that’s what we got when Bath Opera broughtthe Mozart masterpiece to Wincanton.
In the title role, Sebastian Stride was seductive, callous, reckless and showed huge vocal skill in this massive and demanding role. He was matched every step of the way by Simon Wilson’s endearing and sympathetic Leporello. It’s often a toss-up which of these is the “star” of this show, and it was a pretty balanced affair in this touring production, at its final venue, Wincanton Memorial Hall.
Mehreen Shah shone as Donna Anna, the big soprano role that includes the massively challenging Vendetta aria, as well as great emotional demands in acting terms. She is a talented young singer to look out for.
Scottish soprano Charlotte Whittle was the besotted Donna Elvira, another talented young singer making her Bath Opera debut. She has a lovely flexible voice, and was particularly effective in the scene where she is fooled by Leporello, disguised as his master, into believing that the Don really does love her.
The younger couple, feisty Zerlina and her new husband Masetto, sung by Maisie Rae O’Shea and Joseph Folley, had a really convincing chemistry – not always possible when the vocal requirements may be more demanding than the acting skills.
Don Ottavio, Donna Anna’s fiancé, is the most thankless role in the whole opera. He has to promise his intended that he will avenge her father’s murder, but at the same time he keeps pushing her to say they can get married. He has a beautiful aria, but mostly he is a rather wooden onlooker. Alexander Pinkstone sang beautifully – but it would be good to see him in a role that shows his acting skills.
Mozart’s music, as the Duke of Vienna is famously supposed to have said, has “too many notes” – so the biggest burden of this production is the accompaniment, here played not by a period instrument orchestra but by one pianist. Dominic Irving totally deserved the huge applause he received. Amazingly, according to the programme notes, it is his first opera.
This updated production, set in a luxury country hotel owned by the Don, with Leporello as the put-upon manager, receptionist, porter and pimp, was directed with some intelligent ideas by Harvey Evans, and with some judicious tweaks and cuts to keep the running time down to around two hours.
Bath Opera has been growing in strength and quality of productions steadily over the years that it has been run by John Clark and his team. This has to be the best yet.
FC