Baritone Elliot Madore shares the many faces of Don Giovanni. Photos: Spotted Yeti.
By Alison Moritz
Early in my career, I made a particular point to avoid directing the three masterpieces composed by Mozart in collaboration with his frequent librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. It was easy to rationalize the decision: these operas are so exquisite that most productions can succeed without directorial intervention. A fantastic conductor and talented cast could bring them to vivid life all on their own. In reality, though, I was intimidated by the breadth and depth of the humanity represented in these operas. Mozart and Da Ponte weren’t afraid of using class and gender conflicts to evoke dramatic and heart-wrenching scenarios in their operas, and these themes have become even thornier to stage in the here and now.
“Beyond the complexity of the title character, this opera offers an embarrassment of riches in terms of relatable themes and emotions worth mining.”
How can modern audiences walk the delicate tightrope of enjoying the comedy and pathos in this magnificent work without feeling like we’re spending three hours glorifying a first-rate cad? Perhaps that’s exactly how some of you reading this are feeling—like opera is a thing to be held at arm’s length. After all, contemporary American society has moved so far away from many of the given circumstances of the operatic canon, including the infamous Don Giovanni. When I was invited to reconsider this masterpiece, I wanted to find a way to walk that tightrope, allowing us to delight in what’s immediate and recognizable about this world and its characters, but also to enjoy the romance of nostalgia and escaping into a time apart from our own.
I started to think of the character of Don Giovanni as a shapeshifter, a poser, tailoring his speech and manner to every listener but without a solid sense of self. Rather than being the focal point of the story, he became a catalyst for the stories of the six people around him—people of different classes and backgrounds, men and women, who are all affected by this single man who seems to breeze through life without feeling the consequences of his actions. Until he does.
Beyond the complexity of the title character, this opera offers an embarrassment of riches in terms of relatable themes and emotions worth mining. Just as in life, moments of great pain and great joy happen in quick succession. Grief and hurt have the capacity to bend time. People lie to each other, and to themselves. A climactic night feels unending, but then a new day finally dawns.
After more than a decade of deferral, I am extremely happy to be directing this audacious work for the first time with Dame Jane Glover on the podium. Designer Philip Witcomb and I have updated the action to a cosmopolitan version of early 20th-century Seville. Here we find a society parallel to Mozart’s own Age of Enlightenment, where the class structures of the past are beginning to show their cracks, and our characters are caught in a rapidly changing world order.
I’m so glad you’re here today to experience this great work live and made especially for Cincinnati audiences. Thank you for engaging with this challenging art and its ideas. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Stage Director Alison Moritz is an accomplished artist and administrator. Alison was recently named artistic director of the Central City Opera.