What goes around comes around.
In Saturday’s sold-out opening performance of the Central City Opera’s brilliant interpretation of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Jeff Mattsey assumed the title role of a man who triggers his own demise.
The comic – and ultimately tragic – ensemble opera, Central City’s nod to Mozart’s 250th birthday, is the better for Mattsey’s overt virility and forceful vocality. In his Central City debut, the dashing baritone embodies not only the sexy charm and alluring wiles that women find irresistible, but also the acting prowess to convince the audience he is a man to be pitied more than scorned for his willfulness and relentlessly ruthless ways with women.
Director Marc Astafan does away with the commonly performed anticlimactic closing chorus that too glibly judges history’s greatest lover for his exploits. Instead, this rendition of Lorenzo da Ponte’s compelling libretto, based on Molière’s play “Don Juan,” finds the protagonist consumed by his own red-hued reflection in the gripping final scene.
Indeed, the bold, modernistic lighting by Alan Burrett, resident lighting designer for the Los Angeles Opera, accentuates the sparse, angular set designed by Caleb Wertenbaker. The result is a backdrop that effectively accommodates the mostly traditional costumes designed by Alice Marie Kugler Bristow.
Next to Mattsey, top honors go to Central City veteran Emily Pulley as Donna Elvira, one of Don Giovanni’s jilted lovers. The accomplished soprano convincingly depicts the acute sorrow of rejection, as well as the resulting conflict between feelings of bitterness and compassion. This dramatic tension culminates in Pulley’s absorbing delivery of the aria “Mi tradí quell’alma ingrate” in Act II.
Debuting in Central City alongside Mattsey is bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos as Leporello, whose engaging sense of comedy and vocal flexibility perfectly portray his character’s love-hate relationship with his master, the Don. Cokorinos’ resonant sound and playful performance of the famous aria “Madamina! Il catalogo e questo,” in which he lists Don Giovanni’s alleged thousands of conquests of all shapes, sizes and ages, is especially memorable.
The two-act opera set in 17th-century Seville, Spain, also features the collective strengths of the husband-wife duo Sally Wolf and Kevin Langan as Donna Anna and her protective father, the commandant of Seville. The mature timbre of Wolf’s voice was particularly luminous in the poignant aria “Non mi dir, bell’idol mio,” in which Donna Anna pleads with her betrothed, Don Ottavio (Chad Shelton), that she must postpone their marriage so she can properly grieve her father’s death by Don Giovanni’s sword.
While the clear tone of Shelton’s tenor blended well with Wolf’s soprano and the remaining cast, his stiff, constrained acting denied his character any apparent emotion.
Other notable debuts include soprano Deborah Selig as the innocent but boldly flirtatious Zerlina, alongside promising young baritone Christopher Bolduc as Masetto, Zerlina’s groom.
Throughout, music director John Baril skillfully maintained the momentum and gusto of Mozart’s imaginative score.
Notwithstanding the arguably exaggerated raunchiness of the ballroom scene at the end of Act 1, and such minor glitches as the final curtain landing lopsided atop – rather than in front of – the box of mirrors that encase Don Giovanni in death, this overwhelmingly fine production is well worth a trip to the hills.
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“Don Giovanni”
OPERA|Central City Opera House, 124 Eureka St.|The Mozart opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles|2:30 p.m. Wednesday and 11 subsequent performances through Aug. 5 |$37-$84|303-292-6700 or 800-851-8175, or visit centralcityopera.org.
