Review: San Diego Opera’s campy ‘Don Giovanni’ shines in its second act

Mozart’s 237-year-old opera “Don Giovanni” is filled end to end with glorious arias that showcase the talents of its singers. But its plot — inspired by the Don Juan stories about a serial seducer bedding thousands of women — is mired in the 18th century.

To give the story contemporary relevance, “Don Giovanni” is increasingly staged in modern settings, like the new production San Diego Opera opened Friday at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The final performance was Sunday.

In director and costume designer Kyle Lang’s wild and wacky production, Don Giovanni is a ponytailed, studs and leather-clad bad boy. And the bacchanalian party he throws in the second act has the decadent look and feel of “Cabaret” meets “Scarface” meets “Eyes Wide Shut.” Combined with Lang’s hot pink, brocade and sex club costumes, pink and oversize handguns, Tim Wallace’s cartoonishly styled projections, piles and piles of cocaine and a rich dose of camp humor, it’s a “Don Giovanni” that doesn’t take anything seriously except the singing and music.

To reduce production expenses, San Diego Opera staged “Don Giovanni” in minimalist fashion, with the San Diego Symphony on stage and the costumed singers performing in front of the musicians or on raised platforms beside and behind them. Though some local opera fans may miss the massive scenery used in past “Don Giovanni” productions, I don’t miss the repeated pauses required to move the heavy sets between scenes. Having the operas singers performing just feet away from the audience with no orchestra pit in between offered the audience eye-to-eye intimacy and better vocal projection. And being able to watch the symphony led by SDO principal conductor Yves Abel allowed the audience to better appreciate the intricacies of Mozart’s pristine score.

The cast of San Diego Opera’s “Don Giovanni,” from left, Ashley Fabian, Stefan Egerstrom, German Enrique Alcantara, Ethan Vincent, Alex McKissick, Tasha Koontz and Megan Moore with the San Diego Symphony t the San Diego Civic Theatre.

(Karli Cadel)

With intermission, “Don Giovanni” ran 3-1/2 hours, but I saw very few empty seats after the interval in the packed house on Friday. That’s a fortunate thing because the second half was the best. Virtually every principal singer had a stand-alone aria that they aced, and the opera’s famous finale — where the Don descends into a fiery hell surrounded by demons (chorus members crouched on the floor like Gollum in “Lord of the Rings”) was a gaudy and satisfying spectacle.

Argentine baritone Germán Enrique Alcántara made his company debut in the title role. He has a robust voice that ideally fit the role and during his performance took his character from boyish playful romeo to a worn-out, dissolute shell. Also making his debut was the endearing and entertaining baritone Ethan Vincent as the Don’s servant Leporello, whose vocal highlight was the famed catalog aria, where he details the Don’s list of conquests — not in the usual black book, but a black cellphone with the Tinder app.

Creamy-voiced soprano Tasha Koontz as Donna Anna and fiery mezzo-soprano Megan Moore as the stalker-like Donna Elvira were excellent as two of the Don’s victims bent on revenge. And soprano Ashley Fabian sparkled as Zerlina, another of the Don’s intended victims. In his company debut, tenor Alex McKissick impressed with his note-perfect rendering of “Il mio tesoro.” And completing the principal cast were bass Stefan Egerstrom as Zerlina’s husband Masetto, and bass Brent Michael Smith as Donna Anna’s dead father, the Commendatore. Bruce Stasyna conducted the San Diego Opera Chorus.

This season, San Diego Opera reduced the number of its mainstage opera performances from three to two to better match the reduced ticket demand it has experienced since the pandemic. The strategy worked, with both “Don Giovanni” performances practically sold out. The next production at the Civic is “Madama Butterfly” on April 26 and 28.