Welsh National Opera at the Birmingham Hippodrome

9th June 2006

For an opera that is supposedly Mozart’s greatest, there have been surprisingly few opportunities to see Don Giovanni in recent years. When it does come along, it is almost invariably unconventional. The most recent, He Had It Coming. as Birmingham Opera Company rechristened it, had spoken dialogue in place of recitative, and required the audience to walk around the set, and sit on coffins. It did not sound appealing, and it was not without some relief that I heard the performances were sold out. Garden Opera’s production also used spoken dialogue that appeared only vaguely related to Da Ponte’s libretto. The ENO’s production saw the welcome appearance of both recitative and excellent singers, but included many unnecessary instances of sexual activity. Don Giovanni is an opera about seduction, but it is not necessary for this to be part of the onstage action. Indeed, the opera is much more interesting when one does not know exactly what went on in Donna Anna’s bedroom; behind the scenes with Zerlina, or between Donna Elvira and Leporello.

The opportunity to see WNO’s production of Don Giovanni was, therefore, particularly welcome. Although their Le nozze di Figaro on the Spring Tour had been somewhat disappointing, their excellent Die Zauberflote from the previous season still lingers in the memory: a predominantly traditional production with marvellous moments of originality. Although Don Giovanni had a different director from Die Zauberflote, there did seem every reason to hope for another masterpiece, especially considering that the Birmingham Hippodrome is such an excellent venue: superior, certainly, to the Milton Keynes Theatre, in which the sound quality is inclined to be poor.

With such (perhaps unreasonably) high expectations, it was quite difficult not to be disappointed by some of what followed. Katie Mitchell is, no doubt, an excellent director: she certainly has a fine reputation. However, in this revival by Elaine Kidd, while the production does show flashes of inspiration - such as introducing Donna Elvira’s servant into the plot from her mistress’ first aria, and thus ensuring that the audience knows and likes the usually anonymous lady to whom Don Giovanni sings his serenade – the characters in Miss Mitchell’s operas do seem to spend an unsatisfactory amount of time wandering aimlessly about the stage. There was one piece of business in particular that seemed to feature rather too often: one character advanced on another, quite threateningly, before suddenly veering aside, as though too consumed by his or her emotions to continue the attack. It was, admittedly, very effective the first time, but only Elizabeth Atherton, the excellent Donna Elvira, seemed to have any real feeling for the move.

Another of Miss Mitchell’s ideas, with did prove rather more effective, featured during Don Giovanni’s final moments. The Chorus entered, each holding a small flare. The difficulty with this was, at least for those sitting towards the back of the balcony, the flares were so blindingly bright that it was difficult to see what was happening to Don Giovanni, although I rather think the floor came up and swallowed him. It was, however, a very simple, effective, and comparatively safe way of presenting this challenging scene. I also enjoyed the opening scene, when Donna Anna first appeared, brandishing a gun at Don Giovanni, who seemed understandably worried. My first concern was that this might appear at odds with her later appearances, but it was actually extremely convincing. Donna Anna’s grief and guilt are all the stronger when she does have the opportunity to save her father. If she had shot Don Giovanni, the Commendatore would not have died. This gives the story a most intriguing slant, and it was only a shame that Geraldine McGreevy, in unusually sweet voice as Donna Anna, did not explore this further.

Elizabeth Atherton, despite her youth, is surely promising to be one of the great Donna Elviras, if she is not one already. How many singers, even at the Royal Opera House and Metropolitan Opera, have struggled with parts of Donna Elvira’s arias? Many, including some extremely good singers. In addition, it seems as though the character is presented either an admirable lady or a figure of fun: never something in between. Miss Atherton manages to create an Elvira who is both admirable and amusing: in some ways, a great lady, but with elements of the silly child underneath. It was an astonishingly moving performance, and beautifully and effortlessly sung throughout.

It is hardly surprising that no-one could match Miss Atherton, although there was a very creditable performance from another of WNO’s Associate Artists: Elizabeth Donovan, who was a very charming Zerlina, although I have to agree with Hairy McMungo that she will probably be singing Donna Elvira before too long. The third Associate Artist, Owen Webb, showed great promise as Masetto. If he seemed vocally a little uncertain at times, he made up for it with his comedic skills.

Matthew Beale, who made so much of the role of Ramiro La Cenerentola for Glyndebourne on Tour, had some difficulty with Don Ottavio’s legato phrasing for much of the opera, before singing a lovely “Il mio tesoro” – for some, including the second singer ever to perform Don Ottavio, the most difficult part of the role. Robert Poulton’s rather unattractive Leporello was very interesting – a great contrast from the usual, rather endearing character – but slightly clumsily sung.

However, the most important person in this opera is the title character, who was sung by Christopher Purves. I have great admiration for Mr Purves, having enjoyed his performances in roles that are often not particularly appealing: the Speaker in Die Zauberflote, intriguing from the right singer, but not particularly memorable from most; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, an opera I don’t particularly enjoy, and the very disturbing Wozzeck. One cannot blame Mr Purves for wanting to add the great baritone role of Don Giovanni to his repertoire – which, I believe, also includes Leporello, Masetto and the Commendatore – and he certainly sings even the notorious “Finch’han dal vino” with great vocal agility. Unfortunately, the character of Don Giovanni does not seem to suit him. Although I am hardly the best judge of this, Mr Purves did not make a particularly seductive Don. If Mr Purves will forgive me, he seemed rather too staid and dignified for Don Giovanni, and not in the least rakish. In fact, quite a pleasant man, at times. His flirting appeared to be conducted with a certain embarrassment, for which I do not blame him at all.

This production was not without its peculiarities, although there were consideriably fewer of these than in many of the recent Don Giovannis. However, with such an outstanding Donna Elvira, strong performances in “Finch’han dal vino” and “Il mio tesoro”, and the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera on superb form, this is a production well worth seeing.

Barry Tone

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk