Read Online The Faber Pocket Guide to Opera by Rupert Christiansen - Free Book Online
Authors: Rupert Christiansen
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is always an undercurrent of unease and ambiguity to the harmony.Giovanni himself sings neither high nor low, and the role can be taken by either bass or baritone, so long as he can communicate both energy and charm: he has no long major aria, but his brief explosion of exuberance in Act I, ‘Fin ch’han dal vino’, tests the ability to sing notes precisely at great speed – sometimes one is left with a sense of singer and conductor racing to the finishing line.In Act II,Giovanni’s mandolin-accompanied serenade requires a seductive legato and smoothness of tone which is testing in another respect, and basses generally have difficulty lightening their tone for the number.
The role of Donna Anna lies high for any soprano, and her first aria, ‘Or sai chi l’onore’, demands drama, heft and the ability to sustain some top As; the remainder of the role is much more lyrical, with some coloratura in the second aria ‘Non mi dir’ – a passage which Berlioz considered grossly out of character and a great blot on the score.The best of recent Donna Annas was probably the young Carol Vaness, who was also superlative in the similar role of Elettra in Idomeneo. Zerlina may appear pretty and straightforward to sing, but her Act I aria, ‘Batti, Batti’, lies at just the point (E–F, at the top of the stave) at which most sopranos’ voices tire or ‘break’.Her duet with Don Giovanni, ‘Là ci darem la mano’, is invariably a favourite with the audience.
The two arias for Ottavio are both very grateful to a lyric tenor, but it’s almost impossible to make such a passive character seem credible, let alone sympathetic.
In performance
A great deal of intellectual effort has been spent on analysing the figure of Giovanni and determining his moral status: is he a Byronic rebel, nobly fighting fate and convention in the name of romantic individuality, a sexually compulsive psychotic, or perhaps just an irresistible pantomime rogue?Maybe he isn’t a hero, but his defiance as the Commendatore exerts his icy grip is certainly admirable, and it’s hard to doubt that Mozart has a sneaking sympathy for him – don’t we all?
The voice of morality is certainly much less appealing.Anna seems frigidly repressed and self-centred (the German writer E.T.A.Hoffmann famously claimed that she was secretly in love with Giovanni); Elvira is hysterical and hopeless; Ottavio is locked into his role as the gentleman, who claims that he would like to do something to help, but ends up walking politely one step behind the ladies.The lower classes – Zerlina,Masetto and Leporello – don’t have much to offer either: they are presented as merely gullible and venal.
Like Hamlet, there is something about Don Giovanni that doesn’t quite add up, and this is perhaps why there are so few satisfying productions of the opera: almost every director has had a go at it, but those who are successful at exploring one aspect of the piece – such as the sexual seaminess – invariably seem to have neglected another, such as Giovanni’s deceptive veneer of aristocratic nobility.
Recordings
CD: Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna); Carlo Maria Giulini (cond.).EMI 5556232 2
Peter Mattei (Don Giovanni); Daniel Harding (cond.).VC 5454242
Video: Ruggero Raimondi (Don Giovanni); Lorin Maazel (cond.).Directed by Joseph Losey.ARTOP 2
Così fan tutte
( Women all do the same )
Two acts. First performed Vienna, 1790.
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
The secret test of lovers’ constancy is an old literary theme, but da Ponte’s twist on it is quite original.Almost nothing is known about the work’s origins, gestation or reception, though it is amusing to speculate on the irony of da Ponte’s mistress being cast as the first Fiordiligi, while her sister sang Dorabella.It has also been suggested that Mozart’s unresolved feelings about his wife’s sister Aloysia may explain – unconsciously, at least – his attraction to such a plot.
Nineteenth-century
The role of Donna Anna lies high for any soprano, and her first aria, ‘Or sai chi l’onore’, demands drama, heft and the ability to sustain some top As; the remainder of the role is much more lyrical, with some coloratura in the second aria ‘Non mi dir’ – a passage which Berlioz considered grossly out of character and a great blot on the score.The best of recent Donna Annas was probably the young Carol Vaness, who was also superlative in the similar role of Elettra in Idomeneo. Zerlina may appear pretty and straightforward to sing, but her Act I aria, ‘Batti, Batti’, lies at just the point (E–F, at the top of the stave) at which most sopranos’ voices tire or ‘break’.Her duet with Don Giovanni, ‘Là ci darem la mano’, is invariably a favourite with the audience.
The two arias for Ottavio are both very grateful to a lyric tenor, but it’s almost impossible to make such a passive character seem credible, let alone sympathetic.
In performance
A great deal of intellectual effort has been spent on analysing the figure of Giovanni and determining his moral status: is he a Byronic rebel, nobly fighting fate and convention in the name of romantic individuality, a sexually compulsive psychotic, or perhaps just an irresistible pantomime rogue?Maybe he isn’t a hero, but his defiance as the Commendatore exerts his icy grip is certainly admirable, and it’s hard to doubt that Mozart has a sneaking sympathy for him – don’t we all?
The voice of morality is certainly much less appealing.Anna seems frigidly repressed and self-centred (the German writer E.T.A.Hoffmann famously claimed that she was secretly in love with Giovanni); Elvira is hysterical and hopeless; Ottavio is locked into his role as the gentleman, who claims that he would like to do something to help, but ends up walking politely one step behind the ladies.The lower classes – Zerlina,Masetto and Leporello – don’t have much to offer either: they are presented as merely gullible and venal.
Like Hamlet, there is something about Don Giovanni that doesn’t quite add up, and this is perhaps why there are so few satisfying productions of the opera: almost every director has had a go at it, but those who are successful at exploring one aspect of the piece – such as the sexual seaminess – invariably seem to have neglected another, such as Giovanni’s deceptive veneer of aristocratic nobility.
Recordings
CD: Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna); Carlo Maria Giulini (cond.).EMI 5556232 2
Peter Mattei (Don Giovanni); Daniel Harding (cond.).VC 5454242
Video: Ruggero Raimondi (Don Giovanni); Lorin Maazel (cond.).Directed by Joseph Losey.ARTOP 2
Così fan tutte
( Women all do the same )
Two acts. First performed Vienna, 1790.
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
The secret test of lovers’ constancy is an old literary theme, but da Ponte’s twist on it is quite original.Almost nothing is known about the work’s origins, gestation or reception, though it is amusing to speculate on the irony of da Ponte’s mistress being cast as the first Fiordiligi, while her sister sang Dorabella.It has also been suggested that Mozart’s unresolved feelings about his wife’s sister Aloysia may explain – unconsciously, at least – his attraction to such a plot.
Nineteenth-century
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