Scottish Opera’s new production of Don Giovanni is their third offering from director Sir Thomas Allen, in which he returns to a piece that he once made very much his own in the title role. Allen’s conception is largely traditional, giving the audience an atmospheric and sumptuous retelling of the opera in seventeenth-century Venice. The transposition of the work from Spain into a Venetian setting is an apt touch, not only reflecting librettist Lorenzo da Ponte’s former hometown and prompting the obvious Casanovan parallels but further adding a touch of mystery that has long accompanied this sequestered maze of canals, bridges and hidden alleyways in its sensuous hold on the European imagination. Simon Higlett’s constantly shifting and recombining sets might have been intended to suggest a bewildering, labyrinthine world into which the audience are enticed, and the menacing shadows and play of light and half-light contributed much to the production (Lighting: Mark Jonathan). Those in search of more daring and interventionist stagings would no doubt have been disappointed, but for any in search of a traditional representation of the opera this would have done nicely, and the audiences certainly appreciated it.

In other words, this is a fairly conventional Don, though with the odd thoughtful twist showing attention to detail, such as the sinister masked harlequin introducing the audience to the opening D minor chords of Mozart’s overture, the intriguing touch whereby Leporello, guided by his master’s hand, is made to dispatch the Commendatore himself, or the amusing moment in the Finale when the same figure reluctantly tears out for Elvira the evidence of her entry in his great catalogue that constitutes his dead master’s principal glory. Yet although commedia dell’arte masqueraders reappear throughout the evening to effect the scene changes, in the first two cases above one is left thinking that a promising idea could have been followed through to greater consequences. That the servant is made to do the dirty work at the nobleman’s behest could conceivably be developed into a larger social critique, for instance, but nothing further results here. Only the climax of Act II really disappoints, though, with its clichéd stereotypes of stone guest and hellfire just a shade too close to kitsch. And while the patchy coloured streaks down the head of the statuesque Commendatore (Jóhann Smári Sævarsson) were no doubt intended to have conveyed something suitably ghoulish, the effect from close up is merely that the naturalism characterising this entire production has resulted in the rather too realistic depiction of what such pedestals for pigeons invariably become.

Of the singers, Jacques Imbrailo as the eponymous rake makes a refreshingly lyrical seducer. The possessor of a mellifluous baritone, Imbrailo was at his best in the cantabile numbers such as the Act I Duettino and his Act II Canzonetta, which showcased the warmly focused vibrato and unexpected hint of sensitivity in his voice. This is a Don who – surely more believably – seduces through his ability to suggest emotional sympathy, even vulnerability, rather than mere bravado. Peter Kalman, as his long-suffering but no-less culpable Leporello, was a fine buffo (although by the end of the month-long run was beginning to lose some of the energy he had earlier invested in the role). Scottish soprano Lisa Milne was a perfectly judged Donna Elvira, vocally secure and bringing much-needed empathy to this pitiable and faintly ridiculous figure. Milne is able to convey dramatic character through her voice superbly, acting through her musical technique as much as actual stagecraft. Perhaps the best part of the night was her Act II ‘In quali eccessi…Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata’, where the intensity of Milne’s portrayal and the sensitive orchestral support given to her came together in that unaccountable frisson that characterises great performances. 

Anita Watson’s Donna Anna and Ed Lyon’s Ottavio were marginally weaker to my mind, though proved popular with the audience if the response at the end was anything to go by. The gusty quality recently taken on by Watson’s voice suited the anguish and raw emotion of her first act appearance, but she lacked the requisite precision in the floating lines and coloratura of her final aria (‘Non mi dir’). Don Ottavio, meanwhile, is a difficult part to bring off dramatically, the character easily coming across as weak and ineffectual. Lyon, dressed up as a bewigged seventeenth-century fop who had wandered a little far from the court of Louis XIV, seemed almost to be cast as a caricature of such a conception.  Although he showed himself capable of a delicate pianissimo in his Act I ‘Dalla sua pace’, the role still tended to drag dramatically, and the voice lacked the beauty of tone necessary if this figure was to become purely an exercise in stylistic refinement. No such problems affected Anna Devin, who sung and played Zerlina with aplomb and knowing coquettishness; particularly successful was the charged interplay with her Masetto (Barnaby Rea in a strong smaller role) and an innocent piece of rope.

Speranza Scappucci, making her Scottish Opera debut, both conducted and led the recitatives from the fortepiano. The latter in fact marked an unexpected highlight, afforded greater significance than customary in modern Mozart performances and rattled off with pointed attention to their verbal meaning. Though few in the audience probably understood them directly, with the aid of surtitles the irony and humour nevertheless came across more strongly than usual and the recitatives received a fair number of laughs. Scappucci shows herself a fine Mozartean stylist. Tempi were for the most part judiciously chosen and the larger dramatic pacing of the score came together well. Only the Act I aria of Don Ottavio really seemed to be in danger of dragging, and this is more due to the slow initial tempo set by the singer (operatic tenors being a law unto themselves). Having observed the production both in Glasgow at the start and in Edinburgh at the very close of the run, it was noticeable that an increase in homogeneity across the performances was offset by a less welcome flagging in intensity, which affected the first act particularly on the final night. If Scottish Opera performed consistently to the level they intermittently show themselves capable of, their achievement would be all the more considerable. Such critical carping aside, the audience members I spoke with loved it, and to this extent the production was a success.

Don Giovanni was performed at venues in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Edinburgh between October 15th and November 23rd 2013.

Photograph © Scottish Opera.