OPERA: DON GIOVANNI

REVIEW BY IRINA DUNN 

‘The ultimate love rat bites the dust’

Director Elke Neidhardt’s take on Mozart’s Don Giovanni may not please the traditionalists but it is certain to attract a younger, hipper crowd to the Opera House, perhaps for the first time. Remember, it was Elke Neidhardt’s direction of Australia’s first and only Ring Cycle that wowed audiences in Adelaide in 2004.

Stripping the production of its supernatural element, Neidhardt has made Giovanni a godless creature who believes in nothing, fears nothing, and perversely defies religion, social mores ‘ whatever gets in the way between him and his insatiable lust.

But our modern-day Don Juan is not just an unrepentant libertine with a full-blown case of satyriasis (the male equivalent of nymphomania). In front of our eyes he becomes a murderer, a rapist, a drug-fuelled thug and ingrained liar prepared to go to any lengths to satisfy his unnatural appetites.

Audiences who remember the magnificent Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the role should be prepared for the very different but nonetheless seductive portrayal of Giovanni by the handsome Hungarian bass Gabor Bretz. And as Giovanni’s manservant, Joshua Bloom gives us as engaging a Leporello as you’ll ever see on stage.

Rachelle Durkin’s Donna Anna is a dignified and moving victim, passionate in her desire to wreak revenge on Giovanni both for raping her and for killing her father, while Catherine Carby is wonderfully sympathetic as Giovanni’s jilted lover, extracting both pity and humour in her portrayal of the hapless Donna Elvira.

One of the quibbles I have with this production is with the direction of Henry Choo, who looked extremely uncomfortable in his role as Donna Anna’s fiancé Don Ottavio. Why was it necessary for Don Ottavio to gag at the sight of the bloody corpse that was his fiancee’s father. In these scenes, it was better to close one’s eyes and listen to his honeyed tenor than watch some very awkward moments.

My biggest quibble is the computer-generated graphics flashing onstage during the Overture, which added nothing to the production and even severely detracted attention from Mozart’s glorious music. If there was a point to be made it was lost on me as I found myself diverted into puzzling over numerical progressions rather than concentrating on the music.

The orchestra’s lively and expressive performance under the baton of conductor Michael Agrest gave full expression to the dramatic contrasts of Mozart’s great score and was a pleasure to listen to.

In the end, the impact of the dramatic climax was muted by a slight uncertainty surrounding Giovanni’s demise, and the effect was one of bathos. But perhaps that’s what you can expect when you substitute the supernatural with the merely physical.

Don Giovanni

Until 10 September

Sydney Opera House

Tickets: $89 – $240, 9318 8200 or www.opera-australia.org.au