Sandra Piques Eddy plays Zerlina in a scene with Daniel Okulitch playing Don Giovanni in the opera, Don Giovanni presented by Portland Opera at the Keller Auditorium beginning November 2.
Like its title character, Mozart's "Don Giovanni" always delivers pleasure but typically leaves a person less than completely satisfied. So it was with Portland Opera's current production of the story of the legendary libertine, which opened a four-performance run Friday night at Keller Auditorium.
A company offering one of the most popular shows in the standard repertoire, especially if it offered the same one just six years ago, does well to put it in a new package. Portland Opera has done that with striking sets and costumes from New York City Opera's 2009 production, which suggest an indeterminate setting hinting at 1930s Spain.
“Don Giovanni”
When:
7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday
Where:
Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.
Tickets:
From $25; rush seats: students/military $10, seniors $20, one hour before curtain; 503-241-1802 or 800-982-2787
Information:
The action takes place in a vast, vividly-lit room, its towering white walls lined with tall gray paneling, furnished with simple ladder-back chairs, hung with a half-dozen pendant lights and accented with a neon cross. Costumes conform to the color scheme, so apart from a splash of red added to one wall when the Don smashes the Commendatore's head against it in the first scene, most of the visuals are in shades of gray —deliciously appropriate these days for a work about unrestrained libido.
In his program note, Christopher Alden, who originated the production at NYCO, described the setting as "a dream-like civic meeting hall/religious space/funeral parlor," and his stage direction did suggest a dream in that it was often weirdly slow, unaccountably peopled by characters who don't typically share the same space and not meant to withstand close logical scrutiny. Surprisingly, it worked well at pacing the action and moving it smoothly over the set, but it also frequently made for a frustrating listening experience, positioning singers far upstage, where even the bigger voices sounded small and distant.
However nebulous much of the action, Alden left no question that "Don Giovanni" is about sex. Small wonder that a cold had been going around the cast, as general director Christopher Mattaliano announced beforehand, what with all the making out going on. Parents may be warned that the show features very adult content.
George Manahan, who assumed the position of music director for the company in September, led the orchestra in energetic accompaniment with brisk tempi; 3½ hours flew by. But his direction had little give or nuance, and all too often orchestra and singers came unglued.
The cast was generally strong, uniformly appealing and also uniformly inconsistent, save for Harold Wilson's imposing Commendatore. Daniel Okulitch (Don Giovanni) and Jason Hardy (Leporello), veterans of the NYCO production, worked well together. If Mattaliano hadn't asked listeners' indulgence, few would have guessed that Okulitch had a cold. Stefania Dovhan (Donna Anna), Mary Dunleavy (Donna Elvira) and Jonathan Boyd (Don Ottavio) all had standout arias, and they blended well. Sandra Piques Eddy (Zerlina) was hugely appealing and Nicholas Nelson sympathetic, but in their pairing, his smallish, slightly veiled bass was no match for her sumptuous mezzo.
I would expect most of Friday night's inconsistencies and other shortcomings to be ironed out as cast members gets performances under their belts and their colds behind them, so even if you were there Friday night it might be worth another listen. Or as the Don might say, come on back, baby, it'll be different this time.
--