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Over the past year, Seattle Opera has done a number of high-concept productions that have been justly admired. Mozart's "Don Giovanni," which opened this weekend at McCaw Hall, is the newest, and from the waves of loud applause Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, it should be among the most successful.
It has three principal virtues: Robert Dahlstrom's brilliant unit set, both elegant and functional; Chris Alexander's electric and buoyant staging; and Mariusz Kwiecien's bravura portrait of the title character.
The production is located nowhere and everywhere -- in dress, movement, props -- flitting through the centuries, seemingly at will. If one finds that concept irritating, its compelling execution will be tough to swallow. For instance, there is a big, black sexy motorcycle in the opening scene on which Don Giovanni carefully makes his exit. The bike is essentially gratuitous except as a symbol, and as such it is potent.
Dahlstrom is an old hand at Seattle Opera. His work in "Don Giovanni" is among the most persuasive and imaginative of his career: a high, dark wall, resembling a gigantic Louise Nevelson sculpture on its side, that spans the entire width and height of the stage. All sorts of doors, on two levels, open and close to all sorts of other worlds: an elevator booth, a cafe, a sunny landscape, with palm trees, a terrace, a cemetery, a full moon. Because of the multiplicity of textures, elegance of design and Robert Wierzel's evocative lighting design, it is always visually absorbing and never dull. The series of projections of famous female nudes was particularly telling.
Because changes of temperament and locale can be done so quickly with Dahlstrom's set, Alexander adapted a contemporary approach -- what could be called fast editing in the movie and video business -- of one image moving to the next with alacrity. He never stops to gather momentum because he is always going at top speed. With other mise en scenes, this might seem artificial or lacking dynamic variety, but not here. Staging and decor were conceived as one, and they work hand-in-hand for three hours.
The costumes, by Marie-Therese Cramer, are mixed. She designed with a good eye, stylish and flamboyant, for Don Giovanni, but with a curious, oddly indifferent eye for the three women, especially poor Zerlina.
Despite some of the most alluring set pieces in the repertory, the opera is really about sex: Don Giovanni's pursuit of women to seduce. This, Alexander makes quite clear, by ripping open an 18th-century sense of discretion in favor of contemporary frankness. Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Zerlina can moan and groan about Don Giovanni's callous behavior toward themselves and women in general, but his sexual power remains. For this, the production needs a man who not only can sing the music Mozart gave him, but also be persuasive in the role da Ponte created for him, based on a whole slew of literary precedents dating to the early 17th century.
The Polish baritone is just that. Kwiecien has made Don Giovanni something of a signature role for himself. He has a baritone that can sound lyrical and smooth-limbed yet can growl with ferocity. Both athletic and graceful, he is young, slim, good-looking, with a long ponytail that is surprisingly suggestive. He can act and possesses genuine stage presence, living the role Saturday night. Kwiecien's Don Giovanni moves likes a panther: a predator -- arrogant, bold, aristocratic, seductive -- with little to admire except courage in the face of damnation.
His colleagues Saturday night, several of whom were in house debuts, illustrated varied virtues. Pamela Armstrong's Donna Anna combined power with sweetness of tone. Donna Elvira is a problematic character, but Marie Plette managed to make her sympathetic. Ailish Tynan made a pert Zerlina while Eduardo Chama huffed and puffed as Leporello. Richard Croft made an appealing Don Ottavio, as was Kevin Burdette's Masetto, at once innocent and wrathful. Vladimir Ognovenko made a tiny role, Il Commendatore, into an effective one.
Sunday afternoon, there was almost a complete change of cast. Morgan Smith, a singer coming into his own, demonstrated his multiple talents in the title role. His performance was impressive. Brian Kontes had burly charm as Leporello, and Franzita Whelan, welcomed dramatic instincts as Donna Anna. Dana Beth Miller was engaging as the ever-difficult Donna Elvira and so, too, Patrick Miller's Don Ottavio. Heather Parker did justice to Zerlina.
Andreas Mitisek conducted a brisk, well-accented performance, coupled with shapely phrases.
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