5/5 Stars

When I left the Leeds Grand Theatre having just seen Opera North’s production of Don Giovanni, I knew it was going to get five stars. Put simply, Opera North have succeeded admirably in creating a fresh and unpretentious piece of theatre. Credit really does have to be handed to director Alessandro Talevi for putting on a show that is equal parts lively, smutty (even downright dirty in some places) and cathartic. Make no mistake, this show is incredibly modern.

For those of you who don’t know the Don Juan story, it is a story that has been told many times over in various different incarnations. It is the story of a nobleman named John/Juan/Giovanni (depending on the language) who ultimately comes to damn himself through living a life of carnal pleasure. Mozart’s vision of the myth stays pretty true to source material. Don Giovanni is a merciless rake whose obsessive plight for sexual world dominance is his way of trying to keep the fact of his own mortality at bay. Ultimately he presents something of a Faustian figure, unable to repent and accept death until it’s too late. The piece itself is highly representative of Mozart’s work, mixing high seriousness with comedy. It is also an incredibly sexist piece, having been written at a time when masculine authority was under threat from liberated female figures like Mary Wollstonecraft. Perhaps this is why today’s audience are likely to find the humour reinvigorated with an absurd edge as we hear of the sexual complaisance of almost two thousand eager-to-please women all across the continent.

Here is why you should all urgently go and see Opera North’s production. I believe its success lies primarily in the fact that it hasn’t departed much from the original stylistically. This is not a ‘new’ and ‘risqué’ version of the tale, and it pulls no surprises. The stage itself is fairly minimal. Victoria Newlyn’s choreography carries most of the bawdy humour for an English speaking audience; expect to see some very musical dry-humping. Her creative vision for certain famous song sequences is aided by a flawless orchestra, and you don’t find yourself having to look very far to see that this show has a complex and profound beauty propelling it. The best example I can give is the duet ‘La Ci Darem La Mano’. What starts as a tongue-in-cheek instance of flirting rapidly descends, through song and dance, into a frenzy of imagined carnality.

Credit has to be given to the standout singers in the piece. At times, Alastair Miles as Leporello proves he is capable of remarkable feats of projection. But if range and power are what you’re after then look no further than the female cast. Meeta Raval’s voice is stunning as the slighted Donna Anna, Claire Wild’s Zerlina similarly so. Whilst Elizabeth Atherton’s dexterity is proved by the way she effortlessly navigates scales at high speed.

I strongly urge everybody to take this marvellous opportunity to see one of mankind’s greatest works, executed with an understanding and devotion that you don’t see much of today.

Tim Hakki

Photos: Robert Workman