By MONA DAY
“Don Giovanni” is Mozart's interpretation of the Don Juan legend with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte.
The opera catalogs the dashing young lothario's 2,065 conquests and their aftermath, as he is pursued by those he seduced and abandoned and who now seek revenge. When he disdainfully invites a vengeful ghost to dinner, all hell breaks loose — literally — with the horrifying appearance of the statue of the murdered victims. The statue drags the murderer to hell, but Don Giovanni remains defiant and unrepenting even in the face of eternal damnation.
The opera is a product of the counterreformation, as it shows how Don Giovanni's sins have placed him on an irreversible path to eternal damnation from which there is no rescue and in its warning of the divine retribution that visits those who cross the limits of morals.
Despite Mozart classified his masterpiece as a jovial drama, the opera is in fact schizophrenic. Part of it does play out as a fast action comedy, but along with it comes a dark morality tale of philandering, betrayal, and murder. The central character too is part dashing hero, part callous user and murderer. And there's certainly nothing comic about the somber and chilling trombones in the graveyard scene.
The L.A. Opera presentation is conducted by Hartmut Haenchen and directed by Mariusz Trelinski, with Uruguayan bass Erwin Schrott playing the title role. The opera is sung in Italian with English superti-tles, and there is a pre-performance lecture by Alan Champman one hour prior to each performance.
“Don Giovanni” continues through Saturday, Dec. 15.
For more information and tickets, visit online.losangelesopera.com or call (213) 972-8001.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 8, 2007. Read the original PDF.