18 - North Shore News - Friday. March 31, 2000 Staging mars Ben D'Andrea Contributing Writer If Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Italian for Don Juan) were meant only to be heard, its troubling mix of the comic and tragic could be easily ignored. How can the libretto's flaws matter when the music defines perfection? But opera is theatre, meant to be seen as well as heard, and like all theatre, opera demands dra- matic consistency. Mozart called Giovanni a dramma giocoso or cheerful drama. Cheerful it certainly is — in parts. Alas, it also happens to have a title character who commits mur- der. Enter the opera director —serf to the Art of the Impossible — to make sense of this reckless contempt for tidy opera categories. Unfortunately, there is no strong, unifying concept behind Vancouver Opera’s produc- tion of Den Giovanni, and in Roman Hurko’s staging good ideas and bad fight it out. In general, Hurko manages stage action in a plausible fashion, but some of his deci- sions miss the mark. The women lying on the floor, bobbing their heads up and down to Mozart’s over- ture like a multi-headed caterpillar, looked foolish. Also during the overture, the opera’s title and characters’ names flashed onto a screen, presumably to remind audience mem- bers why they paid to sit in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on a Saturday night. Such banalities belong on a list of youthful mis- takes to avoid in the future. In another area, so tame were the duelling scenes that it’s a wonder a fight director has taken credit for them. The sets from L*Opéra de Montréal depart from the traditonal imitation of peri- od architecture. Six tall boxes get wheeled around imo different arrangements for the scene changes. The results are effective, but dark-cloaked figures sometimes moved the boxes while a scene was already in progress. Also distracting were the reflecting panels raised slowly — ever-so-slowly — above the party at Giovanni’s villa. By the time they were in place, it was time for their fong, arduous journey back down. Not all members of the cast consistently sounded as if they were born to sing Mozart, but Australian Peter Coleman-Wright had everything one could wish for in a Don Giovanni: a lyrical, elegant baritone and an aristocratic acting style capable of suggesting cruel disdain. His champagne aria conveyed an infectious zest for life. Victoria-born tenor Benjamin Butterfield proved to be another accomplished Mozart Stylist. As the rather ineffectual Don Ottavio, Butterfield sang his first aria so beautifuily that cutting Ottavio’s difficult second aria, as is sometimes done, would have qualified as deliberate brutality. Fortunately, the audience had another chance to miar- vel at Butterfield’s amazing control of phrasing and vocal flourishes. There was also stror singing and acting by nwo past members of the Vancouver Opera Ensemble: mezzo-soprano Mariateresa Magisano and hass-baritone ‘Taras Kulish. Magisano, whose career seems to be flourishing as it should, gave a delightful performance as the easily perstiaded yet per- suasive Zerlina. Pertect tor the role is the soft colour of Magisano’s voice. Kulish delivered a fully-realized comic renditicn of Leporello, Giovanni's hapless servant, and made an excellent impression in his Catalogue Aria. As Donna Elvira, Australian soprano Cheryt Barker took time to warm up, her top notes sounding rough-edged in the begin- ning. As the evening progressed and she set- ued into her role, she produced a smoother vocal line. Soprano Helena Kaupova also took time to warm up to her role, giving a somewhat monotonous impression in the first act but tising to fine, impassioned singing in the sec- ond. Sergei Stilmachenko’s Masetto was a lit- the understated but well sung. Gary Relyea’s Commendatore was stentorian and ghostly. Steuart Bedford conducted, producing a generally well-focussed but rather tou heavy sound for my idea of Mozart. Another rehearsal might have cleared up some dis- agreements beiween the orchestra and the singers as to tempos. Though spoiled at times by a curious sluggishness and the already mentioned dis- tractions, this production of what has been called the opera of all operas offers some very beautiful singing. For sheer pleasure, that’s worth far more than the strictest, dramatic consistency. Opera season announced FOR its 2000-2001 season, Vancouver Opera will mount a Wagner opera, its first in 25 years. The company will present Richard Wagner's early masterpiece The Flying Dutchman, in German, next March. The last time the opera presented Wagner was in 1975, with Die Walkiire. Vancouver Opera will open the season in October with Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with American soprano Elizabeth Futral making her company debut in the tide role. Donizetti's be! canto master- piece will be followed in November by Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a satiric and cautionary tale of one man’s descent into debauchery and madness. The season will end in April with Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a comical quest for love and enlightenment. — Layne Christensen | Spring: in full oom at What's la? Store Mensveae in Dundarave. The style is cool and fresh in comfortable styles from business casual to weekend wear. Treat yourself with such designs as I Miller, Jack Lipson shirts, Ballin pants, Alfred Sung, and recently added, Saville Row jackets as well as other unique articles. $50 OFF Complete your spring wardrobe wilh this special oiler, * Offer valid on purchases $200° or more * Bofore tax. soles items exciuded * Limit of one $50 discount per customer visit WHAT'S IN? STORE in Dundarave 2428 nore D Drive, West Vancouver 922-2220 Photo Tim Matheson AUSTRALIAN soprano Chery! 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