From the time of Lyric Opera`s calling-card production in 1954 to the present day, ”Don Giovanni” has been a welcome and honored guest at the Civic Opera House. A magnificent good-luck charm, as well. Mozart`s masterpiece returned to the company repertoire Saturday night in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle`s well-remembered production, first seen here eight years ago. All performances are being dedicated to the memory of the late director-designer, who surely would have been pleased by the results-as indeed the opening night audience made no secret of its pleasure.
This may well be the greatest ”Don Giovanni” ever presented at the Lyric, and I`m not forgetting Rossi-Lemeni and Gobbi. Lyric`s casting department seems to have cornered the market on the finest Mozart singers currently active, much as it did with last year`s ”Marriage of Figaro.” I realize many people are buying tickets to this ”Giovanni” to hear Samuel Ramey sing the title role. But, good as Ramey is, every other member of the cast is at least as admirable, and you have the intensely committed conducting of Semyon Bychkov, in his Lyric debut, to make it a true ensemble effort. Could Salzburg have mounted more stylish, exciting Mozart? More stylish, perhaps. More exciting, one doubts it.
When toting up the virtues of this production, not just chivalry demands that one begin with the ladies-all three artists are terrific and they very nearly steal the show.
The young Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, another Lyric debutante, seemed to be holding back a bit vocally in the first act. But as soon as Elvira gave vent to her poignant disillusion and
hurt pride in ”Mi tradi”-an absolutely stunning piece of Mozart singing-you could appreciate why. The voice is like rich country cream, freely flowing, delicately poised in its command of legato phrases, a joy to listen to. A good actress, she brought her own dignity to Ponnelle`s somewhat melodramatic conception. Mattila is a major, major artist. I trust Lyric will bring her back soon.
Carol Vaness is quite simply the finest Donna Anna this listener has heard since Joan Sutherland, and she brings much more temperament to the part besides. Her soprano combines thrilling thrust, amplitude and pinpoint accuracy with the natural beauty of sound and expressive intelligence one so seldom hears in this impossible role. Perfect!
Marie McLaughlin, last year`s delightful Despina, was an equally delightful Zerlina: pretty, playful, resourceful in her erotic manipulation of Masetto, yet not at all soubrettish in her singing or acting.
Ramey is the ideal hero for an opera that Ponnelle treats as a dark, Christian allegory of good versus evil. Here is a cruel, vain, virile and arrogant libertine, a seducer of boundless sexual appetite and magnetism, one who dies convulsively, consumed by his sins in full view of the audience rather going to hell via the customary trapdoor. He`s a handsome but charmless rake, though Ramey sang his music forcefully, securely, even elegantly.
Claudio Desderi`s canny, good-humored Leporello inspired most of the audience`s laughter. Gosta Winbergh`s smooth lyric tenor was betrayed by pitch problems in his first aria, but the more difficult ”Il mio tesoro” went like a dream, and he made more of Ottavio`s character than most singers are able to do. Richard Cowan was the young, volatile Masetto, a nice change from the usual loutish bumpkin. John Macurdy again intoned the Commendatore.
This was Bychkov`s first ”Don Giovanni,” and it turned out to be-on balance-a promising start. Not all his tempos proved convincing (the recitative and duet, ”La ci darem la mano,” dragged), but the on- and offstage instrumentalists played very well for him and coordination with singers was mostly smooth. More, Bychkov treated the pages of Mozartean dramma with properly awed solemnity, the giocoso sections with suitable passion and propulsion.
The virtues of Ponnelle`s conception are well known and are appreciatively overseen by the late director`s former assistant, Matthew Lata, now a Lyric staff member. Mozart`s most unsettling opera is dressed in the pervasive gray stone of Giovanni`s baroque castle, with a huge cross to underscore the dark, Christian allegory of good versus evil. But the music, singing and orchestral playing give this ”Don Giovanni” its true
distinction, making it a production no Mozart lover will want to miss.
`DON GIOVANNI`
Opera in two acts by Mozart, libretto by Da Ponte. Presented by Lyric Opera of Chicago Saturday at the Civic Opera House. Conducted by Semyon Bychkov; directed by Matthew Lata after original production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle; designed by Ponnelle; lighting by Duane Schuler; chorus direction by Philip Morehead. Length of performance: 3:30. Repeat performances Tuesday, Friday, Nov. 23, 27, 30, Dec. 2, 5 and 10. Tickets $11.25 to $74.50. Phone 332-2244.
