Aberdeen welcomed a slice of Mozart to His Majesty’s Theatre last night as Scottish Opera brought Don Giovanni to the Granite City.
The company recently celebrated its 60th anniversary off the back of successful performances in Inverness last month as well as Edinburgh for its birthday performance.
Come Aberdeen, Scottish Opera’s production of Don Giovanni showed its performers in fine form.
The opera was directed by Sir Thomas Allen who played Don Giovanni some 300 times in his career.
Authenticity was prevalent throughout (it felt as though you were transported back in time at points) and so too was the visceral nature of the show that it is renowned for.
The opera’s highs and lows were captured with intensity and like any good story, its timeless qualities of love and deceit made it feel relevant today, almost 250 years on from when it was originally written.
Aberdeen, we’re ready for you! We’re about to take stage with Don Giovanni for our first night at His Majesty’s Theatre @APAWhatsOn – are you joining us?? The Commendatore is waiting… pic.twitter.com/QB8WYDNvMx
— Scottish Opera (@ScottishOpera) June 16, 2022
Being my first ever opera, I’ll admit I did a little research beforehand to keep up with the performance’s key events.
But I went in with an open mind and come the conclusion, I felt assured that this wouldn’t be the last opera I would head out to see.
Opening sequences
Beginning with a powerful opening overture, a hush of anticipation fell over the crowd as the opera’s opening sequences were met with attentiveness by the diverse and fairly full Aberdeen crowd.
The building’s Victorian structure paired perfectly with the on-stage performance as the sounds of the orchestra in the pit and performers on stage reverberated beautifully without the need for microphones.
Leporello (Zachary Altman), the servant of Don Giovanni, was the first to appear out of the mist as he grudged whilst waiting for his master to finish his business in a nearby house.
Don Giovanni (played by Jonathan McGovern) soon appeared, attempting to evade Donna Anna (Elena Xanthoudakis), the daughter of the Commendatore (Keel Watson), who challenged Don Giovanni to a duel which he lost.
These initial parts played a pivotal role in the remainder of the performance as an impending sense of doom gradually made its presence felt over Don Giovanni.
Powerful performances
The Italian language and opera are like a marriage made in heaven.
Words just seem to roll off the tongue that bit better when spoken in Italian and if anything, the English supertitles were not required at points given the powerful performances displayed by the opera’s cast.
Don Giovanni’s famous aria, Deh Vieni Alla Finestra, was a real strong point of the character’s overall performance with its tender moments juxtaposing his brutal persona.
Being the anti-hero of the opera, his bold, brazen nature was exhibited well throughout the performance by McGovern – and given the few accustomed boos to the villain come the closing bows, it was certainly job well done.
The complexity of all of the cast’s vocal performances were clear to hear. But most impressive of all the arias were Donna Anna’s.
Xanthoudakis’ soprano tone was phenomenal. She glided through melodies with poise and reached all corners of the theatre with her awe-inspiring vocal range.
The cohesion between the performers and the orchestra was also palpable and despite Covid-19 impacting the company in recent days, nothing but professionalism exuded come the show.
Engaging storyline
Love, lust, murder and lies were the core components of this engaging opera.
Set in the backstreets of 17th century Venice in Sir Thomas Allen’s production, this formed the perfect hunting ground for the amorous Don Giovanni, who believes “women and wine are the glory of the world.”
As the opera progressed after the murder of the Commendatore, Don Giovanni’s attempts to evade his wrongdoing slowly started to crumble.
His selfishness began to catch up with him. But when later handed an unlikely chance for redemption, ignorance cost him his fate.
Yet, as well as the thrills, this dramma giocoso (drama with jokes) meant that comedy was also a core part of this particular opera.
There were several moments of laughter from the audience – apparently an unusual feat for opera audiences – as the production’s script lended its hand to a number of witty remarks.
Leporello was easily the most amusing character. His backhanded comments to Don Giovanni whispered behind his back and comments on his scandals added a good dose of originality and modern humour to the performance.
Dramatic finale
As the shadows loomed in on Don Giovanni, the opera’s conclusion brimmed with tension.
The closing sequences saw Giovanni invite the statue of the Commendatore for dinner in the oddest, otherworldly sequence of the opera.
However, he refused his chance for redemption for his sins offered by the hand of the Commendatore.
His fate was then sealed to the flames of hell and as the closing acts rounded up the performance, the Aberdeen audience gave a long and rapturous applause.
Impressive performance
As an opera novice, I was both surprised with how accessible the show was as well as being very impressed with the standard of the performance.
Although doing a bit of research definitely helped, the storyline was straightforward to keep up with.
There were no noticeable faults and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing something completely new.
Will it be my first and last opera? I don’t think so.
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