Review: Met Season’s First DON GIOVANNI Shows Off a Great Score for the Audience to Relish

Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI was one of my first operas and remains among my favorites, despite its misogyny and the difficulty in putting together the kind of cast that can do justice to the string of show-stoppers in the score. The season's premiere of the opera had much to admire.

You don’t necessarily have to have powdered wigs and sets evocative of the 18th century to do the opera but van Hove seemed more at home in DEAD MAN WALKING’s jailhouse setting than he did here, even though it tried to bring the opera up to date.

The darks sets and lighting by Jan Versweyveld seemed less persuasive than they did the first time around (I seem to recall more attention to shadows when it opened); the same went for An D’Huys costumes. Sara Erde was the choreographer. Projection designer Christopher Ash, however, left us with a unique view of Hell for the finale.

GIOVANNI needs a strong director’s hand (as well as one who listens to the libretto's instructions) and van Hove didn’t provide it when the production was new, nor could the revival’s stage director, Marcus, Shields, do much with what he had to work with.

In addition, this modern-dress version appeared to forget about the charm that is supposed to ooze from every pore of the Don. Unfortunately, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green—who I’ve admired elsewhere—couldn’t quite measure up to that demand of the character. While this was his house debut in the role, he’s done it elsewhere, but he hasn’t developed a bag of tricks to call upon in building his performance.

From the start, he was nasty to everyone and stayed there for much of the evening. And the music didn’t seem a good fit for his voice, in my view, which lacks the suaveness that supposedly drove women crazy. Mozart is part of the problem, in a way, not giving the Don a real aria of his own to set up his character, only his duet with Zerlina, “La ci darem la mano,” and the quickie “Fin ch’han dal vino,” better known as “The Champagne Aria.”

Luckily, other members of the cast were heard to a much greater effect. The three sopranos who are part of the Don’s current focus were highly successful, to varying degrees, in providing the knockout punches their arias provide. Janai Brugger was a fine Donna Elvira, whose love-hate relationship with the Don provided great fodder for her solo arias: “Mi tradi,” “Ah, chi mi dice mai” and “Ah, fuggi il traditor.”

As the country girl whose wedding the Don does his best to disrupt, Hera Hyesang Park gave us a full-bodied Zerlina. Her entreaty to fiancé Masetto (bass William Guanbo Su), in “Batti, batti o bel Masetto,” seemed less an invitation to violence than it often is, though his jealousy still brought out his worst side. Lastly, Federica Lombardi sounded rich as the confounding Donna Anna, always putting off her love interest, Don Ottavio (tenor Ben Bliss), one more time.

Bliss was marvelous in his two arias, “Il mio tesoro” and “Dalla sua pace,” while coming across as less of a punching bag for Anna than is often the case; by the last time she puts him off, he seems like he’s finally gotten the message that their relationship is more than a little one-way.

Bass-baritone Adam Plachetka, as the Don’s manservant, Leporello, did well enough, but couldn’t wow the audience with his showpiece, “Madamina, il catalogo e questo”—otherwise known as “The Catalogue Aria.” Bass Adam Palka made a notable Met debut as the Commendatore, who’s responsible for giving the Don his comeuppance.

The Met Orchestra, under Yannick Nezet-Seguin’s brisk baton, sounded happy to be in Mozart territory, and gave a reflection of it in their performance. Howard Watkins was indispensable on the continuo; cellist Kari Jane Docter and mandolinist Nathan Huvard made fine contributions to the score on their respective instruments.

It’s always wonderful to be reminded how great this Mozart score is. LE NOZZE DI FIGARO may be the better opera but, ah! I’ll take DON GIOVANNI.

Caption: (Center) Ryan Speedo Green. (Far left) Adam Plachetka. (Surrounding Green from left) Janai Brugger, Federica Lombardi, Ben Bliss, William Guanbo Su, Hera Hysesang Park.

Photo credit: Ken Howard/Met Opera