Don Giovanni
“…it would be hard to imagine a more thrilling portrayal of this engaging dissoluto” operajaponica
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Composer |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
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Librettist |
Lorenzo da Ponte |
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Venue and Dates |
Opera Bastille, Paris 2001 |
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Conductor |
Ivor Bolton |
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Production |
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Performers |
Don Giovanni: Gerald Finley Leporello: José Van Dam Donna Anna: Luba Orgonasova Donna Elvira: Carol Vaness Don Ottavio: Gordon Gietz Zerlina: Masetto: Commendatore: Philip Ens |
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Notes |
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What the critics say
Frank Cadenhead, OperaJaponica, 2001
http://www.operajaponica.org/archives/paris/parisletterpast01.htm
Opening night of Bastille's Don Giovanni was in sharp contrast to Die Fledermaus. The revival of the 1999 production, designed by Dominique Pitoiset, was not meant to be glamorous and the single, stark set looked more like a construction site, brightened only by the occasional candle. The singing here was of a different order, with some excellent young singers and two well-known veterans of the opera stage.
Gerald Finley, a virile and mellifluously voiced Don, gave a performance of nuance, alternating between seductive charm and swarmy sensuality. A fine singing actor, it would be hard to imagine a more thrilling portrayal of this engaging dissoluto. Gordon Gietz made a good impression as Don Ottavio, with his big, warm and secure vocal technique. The young bass, Philip Ens, as the commendatore, has a powerful instrument - enough to terrorize the most jaded libertine. The Donna Anna, Luba Orgonasova, who I first heard last year in Britten's War Requiem, made her Paris Opera debut and sang with a wealth of beauty and control. Veteran Carol Vaness delivered an impassioned and strong performance as Donna Elvira.
The list of credits for José Van Dam, here singing Leporello, takes up four columns in the program and has been heavily abridged. When you hear this legendary singing actor do the famous Catalog Aria, you know that you are witnessing something that will never be equaled and will be a happy memory for life. Now 61 and performing only infrequently, his voice is still in excellent shape and he remains one of the great operatic baritones. Van Dam and Finley worked together with such care and obvious pleasure, that the complex relationship between these two was never so well expressed. Ivor Bolton, an early music specialist, was at the helm of the orchestra, and kept things clear and full of well-regulated passion. In short, it was an evening of wonderful music making.