Arts & Events

OPERA REVIEW: An Uninspiring DON GIOVANNI at San Francisco Opera

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Friday June 09, 2017 - 12:15:00 PM

In a revised version of the 2011 production, Mozart’s Don Giovanni opened on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at War Memorial Opera House. Making his company debut was Italian director Jacopo Spirei, who combined forces with German visual artist Tommi Brem to create a totally atemporal and unlocalized staging of Don Giovanni. Jacopo Spirei has remarked that, “Don Giovanni is an opera from the past that challenges our modern times with questions and provocations. We are creating a show that establishes a direct dialogue between the past and the present, the 18th with the 21st centuries. We explore the world and themes of the opera with contemporary eyes, in search of Don Giovanni, a man always on the run and who can never be pinned down.” 

So much for intentions. The results, however, offer little insight into any of the questions and provocations this opera presents. One holdover from the 2011 production is the presence of 21 huge mirrors (16’ tall and 6’ wide) that are moved in and out of place synchronously by the company’s motorized system. These mirrors are almost the only scenery in the production, aside from some incongruous chairs. However, these mirrors generally reflect nothing at all. Is director Spirei hinting that nothingness is at the heart of Don Giovanni? Occasionally, the mirrors are used as screens upon which are projected distorted images of faces, usually though not always the distorted face of Don Giovanni. Are the mirrors supposed to be fun-house mirrors? If so, where’s the fun in this staging? 

French conductor Mark Minkowski also made his company debut, and he led the orchestra in a brisk rendition of Mozart’s famed Overture to Don Giovanni. On the whole, Minkowski did a fine job of keeping this opera moving along at a decently fast pace. Before the opera began, however, General Director Matthew Shilvock took the stage to announce that our Don Giovanni, Italian bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, was feeling out of sorts but had graciously consented to go on with the performance. Shilvock begged our indulgence. D’Arcangelo shepherded his voice wisely at the outset, but then he never really let his voice reach out during the entire opera. His was not a bad performance, but it was hardly a forceful and memorable interpretation of this great role.  

Among this cast, at the first performance only soprano Erin Wall stood out in an exceptional vocal interpretation of the role of Donna Anna. Wall’s voice was lustrous in all registers, though her acting was minimal. As Donna Elvira, Puerto Rican soprano Ana María Martínez offered a vocally capable but hardly inspired interpretation of a role that practically invites an over-the-top portrait of hysteria. But Martínez toned down all the mood swings of her character, and thus the results were, shall we say, underwhelming. Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott made his company debut as Leporello, and while he was vocally competent he rarely stood out as the sardonic servant who dares to challenge his boss’s outrageous behavior. Schrott’s rendition of the famous Catalogue aria was yet another underwhelming moment in this production of Don Giovanni. The role of Zerlina was sung by soprano Sarah Shafer, who was neither sweet-voiced enough nor coy enough to make this role come alive as it often does on the opera stage. Her beau, Masetto, was sung by bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, who was a forceful, aggressive suitor immediately suspicious of Zerlina’s vulnerability to Don Giovanni’s come-ons. French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac was a competent Don Ottavio, and Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli was a convincing Commendatore. 

On the whole, this was a mildly disappointing Don Giovanni. Vocally, it was competent but uninspiring, and the semi-abstract staging and toned-down acting style of most of the performers did nothing to bring across the drama and provocation of this great, dark opera. Perhaps Ildebrando D’Arcangelo’s health issues took their toll on his own performance and cast a pall over the ensemble. If D’Arcangelo can overcome these health issues he may yet offer the swaggering, sexy Don Giovanni for which he is acclaimed, and this might light a fire in this desultory production. Don Giovanni runs through June 30, and it ends with a free live simulcast at AT&T Park on June 30.