Seattle Opera’s Cinematic Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is what a lot of people would call a “problematic fave.” On the one hand, Mozart’s music is incredible. On the other hand, the title character is a rapist. I understand if you want to stop reading now. It’s impossible for contemporary viewers to gloss over or ignore Giovanni’s crimes, which are still too often ignored today. But art is supposed to ask questions, and there is a lot to unpack in Don Giovanni, especially in a nuanced production. Fortunately, Seattle Opera’s new film version of the opera faces the contradictions in Don Giovanni head on while also experimenting with format. The result is a complex and intriguing show that keeps you thinking long after you’ve hit the power button. 

The Don Giovanni Conundrum

Mozart’s opera, which premiered in Prague in 1787, is a Don Juan story (Giovanni is the Italian version of Juan). Nowadays we tend to think of Don Juan as a “great lover” stereotype, or if we’re feeling judgy, a man-whore. I’ve read Don Juan, but it was a long time ago, so I’m not sure if I remember it correctly. What I remember is a story with amorous encounters (not as many as you’d expect), but I don’t remember the original Don Juan being a rapist.

I think a lot of the trouble with the opera Giovanni is that the definition of “seduction” has changed in the two centuries since it was written. That makes a huge difference in how the character comes across. Nowadays, we think of seduction as convincing someone to have sex with you. But in Mozart’s time, it meant having sex with someone previously reputed as chaste. Consent was irrelevant.

In Mozart’s time, both definitions would have been considered sinful. But even though Giovanni is dragged down to hell in the final act, the opera as written fails to condemn him with sufficient force. The idea of Don Giovanni as a morality tale doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny.

Like the servant Leporello, who despises but kind of envies his master, older productions gave Giovanni a kind of grudging respect. They acknowledge him as handsome and charming (even though we only ever see him act cruel and creepy) with a sort of “you’d act that way too if you could get away with it” attitude. And the women he harmed are traditionally used for comic relief. Often, we’re given the impression that his only real crime is murdering the Commendatore.

Her Story

This female-led production has made some artistic choices that really shift the way we see the characters in this opera. No one is laughing at the women’s experience in this version. And since the film version is much shorter than the standard stage production (more on that later) many of the cut scenes were the ones that made excuses for Giovanni’s behavior. As a result, the entire story is more closely focused on the harm his actions cause for everyone around him, and on the way that people respond and recover from the damage.

Coincidentally, I watched Don Giovanni during the same week that I was watching the K-drama Itaewon Class, which also explores the question of living well when you’ve been victimized. Before I lose myself in a book-length exploration of the parallels between these two stories, I’ll just point out Dr. Naomi Andre’s essay in the program. She explains this interpretation of the opera better than I ever could, and shows how Giovanni, despite being the central character, is not a protagonist in the true sense. Instead, he is

“less of an agent acting out his own free will, and more of a placeholder as the product of privilege.”

Naomi Andre, Don Giovanni program

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One of the truest measures of an artwork, to me, is its ability to sustain multiple interpretations and to reveal truths through those interpretations that the original creator may not have even thought of. By that measure, Don Giovanni holds up tremendously, even though I don’t always like it.

Me and the Don

The first time I saw Don Giovanni was at Seattle Opera in 2007. Despite a cast full of low voices (only one of the men is a tenor) I didn’t like it at all. I was irritated by the story and bored by the minimalist set. Only the music kept me in my seat until the end.

I saw it again in 2014, and that time my response was conflicted. By then I saw some of the complexity that the simplistic “morality tale” interpretation overlooked. Even though they used the same production, the second time around I could appreciate how the stark set heightened the drama of the final retribution. But I need to be able to sympathize with someone in the story, and I still couldn’t get behind any of the characters in that production.

Don Giovanni: The Movie

Although the all-female creative team is historic, the most impactful artistic difference on this production is the film format. Seattle Opera has consistently impressed me during the pandemic with their willingness to experiment with presentation and format. As their experience and the amount of time to plan their approach has grown, the results have become increasingly sophisticated.

Director Brenna Corner decided to present this Don Giovanni as a cinematic staging (rather than a filmed stage production like Elixir of Love). It’s not quite a movie version of the opera – the performance is still on a stage with theatrical sets that are more evocative than descriptive. Generally modern, the costumes indicated a mishmash of decades that contributed more to characterization than world-building.

But the production goes beyond simply filming the performance New York Met style. The sound was recorded separately from the filming. More importantly, it was filmed in black and white. Together with the piano-heavy score (since full orchestra wasn’t a pandemic-friendly option) it evokes silent movies, and also, somehow, Sunset Boulevard.

The production is movie length instead of opera length. (The purist in me cringes a bit, but I admit that no matter how creative, opera on a screen takes more stamina than live opera. So Seattle Opera’s choice to keep all their digital content short is wise.) That means a lot of material had to be cut. Beside the justifications for Giovanni’s behavior, anything that couldn’t be staged safely (like fistfights) during a pandemic went away. The result was a streamlined story that kept up a brisk pace.   

The Performances

Debuts

This production was full of Seattle Opera debuts, including Jared Bybee as the Don. His cocky, creepy yet slightly clueless Giovanni reminded me of Will Arnett in Blades of Glory – an impression heightened by the fur coat collar and slicked back hair. Laura Wilde was a Donna Elvira entirely unlike the comical “woman scorned” of past productions. Instead, she becomes a model for the healing process. She’s the character with the most growth. Kenneth Kellogg was another new face for the small but significant bass role of the Commendatore.

Michael Sumuel as the servant Leporello impressed with his expressive bass. Finally, soprano Jasmine Habersham overcame an unfortunate costume to convey Zerlina not as a opportunistic gold-digger, but an ingenue momentarily led astray by the flattery of fancy stranger. She even made the lyrics of “Batti, batti, o bel Masetto” a little more palatable. Without changing a word, her delivery makes it clear that she only says these things because she knows Masetto doesn’t have the heart to stay angry, let alone actually beat her. She’s forcing him to acknowledge the limits of his anger.

The Usual Suspects

There were a lot of Seattle Opera regulars, too. Usually, Adam Lau’s bass voice puts him in the role of priests and fathers. It was a lot of fun to see as a Converse-wearing jealous boyfriend. And since a low voice generally equates to masculinity in opera, it implies that the naïve, bespectacled teen is already more of a man than Giovanni. The vengeful Donna Anna was also a big switch from the sweet Micaela that Vanessa Goikoetxea debuted here a couple years ago. And the lone tenor, as Don Ottavio, was Andrew Stenson, who has showed up at Seattle Opera every so often since 2010. But it seems like we’ve been seeing a lot of him lately, and although his Elixir of Love character was more entertaining than the stiff Ottavio, I think I liked his voice best this time around.   

The Details

Available Mar. 19–21 for $35 or now through Mar. 21 by subscription. Subscriptions to the 2021 Spring Season are on sale and include the full 2020 virtual fall season.

Don Giovanni

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Performed in Italian with English captions
Premiere: Oct. 29, 1787 in Prague, Czech Republic
Previous Seattle Opera Performances: 1968, 1979, 1991, 1999, 2007, 2014
In Italian with English Subtitles
Performance Time: 2 hours and 11 minutes including one intermission
Cinematic Runtime: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Cast

Don Giovanni:              Jared Bybee*
Donna Anna:                Vanessa Goikoetxea
Donna Elvira:               Laura Wilde*
Don Ottavio:                Andrew Stenson
Leporello:                    Michael Sumuel*
Zerlina:                        Jasmine Habersham*
Commendatore:           Kenneth Kellogg*
Masetto:                       Adam Lau

*Seattle Opera debut

Conductor:                   Lidiya Yankovskaya*
Stage Director:             Brenna Corner
Projection Designer:    Chris Reay*
Set Designer:               Doug Provost
Hair, Makeup
& Costume Designer:   Liesl Alice Gatcheco
Lighting Designer:        Connie Yun
Audio & Sound
Designer:                     Robertson Witmer
Video Director:             Ken Christensen*
English Captions:          Jonathan Dean

{I purchased a Seattle Opera Season subscription for full access to digital content generated during the pandemic.}