Mozart – Don Giovanni
Skovhus; Ketelsen; Petersen; Opolais; English Voices; Freiburger Barockorchester; Louis Langrée
BelAir BAC080
It is to the credit of Mozart’s greatest opera to be able to endure many different viewpoints, from traditional to the wildest modern interpretations. I’ve even seen one that took place in the South Bronx with an all-black cast and it was marvellous. Here the Don Juan legend, or “morality tale” is from the hand of a young, very talented Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov with a well-thought-out and imaginative concept that infuses the action, setting and characters to the last detail. That concept puts the drama in a modern setting: a drawing room of a luxurious residence of a dysfunctional family is quite immaterial. It really is all about a man trying to live above the rules of society; although he is successful for a while, he is ultimately doomed.
To achieve this, the director, who knows the score and libretto by heart and therefore is no bumbling dilettante, selected his singing actors with utmost care, mostly young with fine voices and remarkably fit to live up to his strenuous physical, emotional demands. The dissolute Don, Danish baritone Bo Skovhus is a larger-than-life presence, alternatively charming, elegant, seductive, insolent, despondent or manic, you name it, although the superhuman demands do take their toll and his powerful voice is sometimes off pitch. The three women representing three social classes andof different ages, are all memorable, each with their own issues, but common in one respect: their uncontrollable, conscious or subliminal attraction to the Don. I was most impressed by the ingenue, exceptional Swedish soprano Kerstin Avemo, giving a simply unforgettable, many-layered emotional, heartbreakingly empathetic portrayal of Zerlina.
Under the enthusiastic, firm musical leadership of French conductor Louis Langrée driving his virtuoso period instrument orchestra with verve and brisk tempi, the show moves along seamlessly and it’s refreshing like the Provence air.
