The British delight in celebrating old glories - perhaps because, in these dark & uncertain days, past triumphs are the only thing we can really rely upon. The same impulse that leads to frenzied Jubilee celebrations infuses our art - you're still more likely to see the works of Shakespeare on stage than any other playwright's, and the world of classical music luxuriates in a canon of old masters like the proverbial overfed feline in cream.
Staging such masterpieces is a critical minefield – innovate, and you find a crusty traditionalist exploding beneath you. Stick with an old-fashioned reproduction, and you settle for unimaginative predictability. Set amid the gorgeous rolling hills of the Wormsley Estate, beside an ornamental lake and fields of deer, the stage was certainly set for a traditional performance. Thank goodness, then for Daniel Slater's masterful modern staging of Don Giovanni at Garsington Opera.
A minimalist set design & sharp yuppie costuming suggested that Don Giovanni had taken up a new career as a coke-snorting financier. The wedding party of Zerlina & Masetto is transformed from a peasant feast into a chavvy hen night. The musicians playing at Don Giovanni's fateful supper become tracks on his iPad.
In a less assured production, these changes could feel contrived, just nods to passing fads, but Don Giovanni was suffused with a style, a sureness of touch, that made every modern touch feel like a part of a coherent whole. Like the very best productions of Shakespeare, the fresh ideas of this production seemed to flow seamlessly from the original, throwing new light on an old classic.
To take just one example, Don Giovanni’s unwelcome advances to Anna (kickstarting the plot) were, in this production, far from unwelcome. Indeed, Anna came prepared with a corset and handcuffs. In a subtle touch of genius, Don Giovanni's “mask” was in fact a blindfold kinkily applied by a vaguely dominatrix-esque Anna.
This elegant change, acted out during the overture without messing with the libretto, adds a new dimension to the opera via a beautiful dramatic irony. All of Anna's subsequent arias become infused with a darker tinge: her dramatic confession of Don Giovanni's attempted rape is a manipulative lie, and her promises of vengeance are those of both a grieving daughter and a jilted lover. Natasha Joul's fantastic performance portrayed Anna's mourning for her murdered father with just enough knowing cynicism for the audience to appreciate.
In fact, all of the cast were superb. Vocal excellence is expected at top-level opera, but the brilliant acting displayed by these performers is not. Joshua Bloom’s Leporello came close to stealing the show from Grant Doyle’s splendidly vicious Giovanni, by turns taking mischievous delight in his master’s conquests (a list of which, pulled from a printer, wrapped around the entire stage) and portraying a real sense of apprehension as Don Giovanni’s comeuppance loomed. Sophie Bevan’s Elvira, meanwhile, was more than a match for the rake, not just vocally but also in terms of presence on-stage.
The quality of the music was, in a word, perfect. Conductor Douglas Boyd and his orchestra filled the beautiful purpose-built hall with rich, transporting sound, completely immersing the audience in the world of the opera. To enthuse about what happened on-stage is to sell short the rest of the Garsington experience. Like the (perhaps-unfairly) better-known Glyndebourne, setting, atmosphere and performance combine for an unforgettable evening. A long interval offered the chance for a relaxed picnic in small marquees overlooking the lake; an idyllic respite before returning to see Giovanni meet his fate.
Quite simply, this was the single best operatic production I have ever seen. But even without it, I would still have wanted to attend Garsington Opera.
