In Opera North's new production of Don Giovanni, the influence of the work's amoral anti-hero infects every aspect of the staging. Kevin Knight's uncompromisingly bleak set, conceived under the burden of the company's budget restrictions, achieves startling expressive effects in conjunction with Paule Constable's imaginative lighting design. The enormous, dirty sheets that divide the stage hang as graphic records of the Don's wanton promiscuity. Each scene, from peasant party to aristocratic masquerade, seeps with the diabolical consequences of his endeavours.
Garry Magee's performance of the title role impresses with his vivid characterisation of the Don's various amorous encounters. For all his obvious womanising, Don Giovanni is an elusive dramatic figure. Almost uniquely in the work, he does not have a definitive musical personality, as Mozart cloaks him with whatever musical disguise he needs to ensnare his next victim. But in partnership with Jonathan Best's cynical Leporello, and combined with David McVicar's racy direction and Amanda Holden's vibrant translation, Magee's is a gleefully politically incorrect portrayal that provides the dark heart of the production.
The other parts are more uneven. Majella Cullagh manages a graceful persuasiveness in her attempts to convince Don Ottavio to revenge her bereavement, but her first act aria lacks passionate commitment. As Anna's dithering lover, Paul Nilon captures Ottavio's impotent posturing in the overblown bluster of his second act aria. Claron McFadden's performance of Donna Elvira tries to create a woman of steely resolve, as opposed to the conventional depiction of Elvira as hapless victim. The result compounds the dramatic confusion of the part, and contributes to McFadden's unsure, tentative vocal performance. Dominic Wheeler's conducting provides an exuberant foil to McVicar's direction, with tempi that are both hectically fast and surprisingly slow. As a result, the music seems to exist only at these two polar opposites, hindering both singers' articulation and the pacing of the drama.
But there is no lack of theatricality at the end of the opera. Instead of disappearing in a puff of smoke, the Don is visited by a latex-clad, S-and-M-style angel of death. After the concentration on human depravity in the rest of the production, this touch of Boschian purgatory seems like an unnecessary indulgence. However, it sets up a fascinating last scene, where McVicar has Don Giovanni's corpse clearly on display - as if the genteel moralising that closes the opera is only a facade, concealing the unvanquished problem of Don Giovanni's irresponsible existence.
