The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s season opener promises a stunning, provocative departure from their usual format with a live performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, one of the 10 most frequently performed operatic works. Maestro Edo de Waart will conduct, but this production proposes some interesting innovations by young West Coast artistic director James Darrah, who recently conducted Giovanni in San Francisco. Cited for his “fresh, stimulating productions” with emphasis on collaborative projects combining various media including special video effects, Darrah promises a tantalizing hybrid. The orchestra will be in the pit with the singers onstage performing against stationary sets, but not necessarily acting every stage detail.
Don Giovanni lends itself well to visionary reinterpretations. The music flows constantly with world-famous melodiousness spurred on by conflicting motives. The Don himself is a curious blend of moral ambiguity, interested only in his sexual conquests without regard for consequences, but consistently charming even if his initial attempts at seducing Donna Anna result in a fatal duel with her father. It’s quite an attention-getting curtain raiser that opens the opera. We forgive him, almost. As the characters around him remain in constant turmoil seeking revenge or bemoaning their fates, as with his abandoned mistress Donna Elvira, the mayhem only fuels Mozart to even more beguiling musical expression. The characters gradually take shape through specific musical motifs. The genius of Mozart lies in musically defining the ambiguity of character conflict within a richly flowing musical fabric.
But all good things must come to an end. As the Don is about to be dragged to hell by the ghost of Donna Anna’s father, his response (which I will not divulge for those unfamiliar) comes as no surprise.
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The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performs Don Giovanni at the Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13 and 16, and at 2 p.m. on Sept. 14.
