After the naturalistic and highly credible approach of John Cox in his productions of Cosi and Figaro, Daniel Slater’s rethinking of Don Giovanni came as something of a shock. It is not just the re-writing of the action, including the survival of the Commendatore, but the frequent miss-match of action with text. In the days before surtitles it may have been more acceptable for the singer to act in a way that had little contact with the text, but the very presence of the text can cause unexpected difficulties. To take just one example. At the end of the opera the Don is given an injection to reduce him to a paraplegic. He is seen in the company of severely disturbed inmates at an asylum. The words we hear and see imply that this is what happens to those who are sinful. Are we to assume then that all who are mentally disabled are sinful? I doubt this was the intention but it was certainly there before us.

There were many other moments which were equally unsettling, and proved disconcerting when so much was carefully thought through. The TOWIE wedding for Massetto and Zerlina was totally convincing, and her gum-chewing acceptance of the Don both farcical and apt. However, the lack of class distinction meant that the Don had to use a knife to threaten Massetto – his mere presence could not do it.

All of this might have mattered less if the production had been poorly severed musically but the reverse was true. This was as fine a musical presentation as one could wish for, with the Bevan sisters impressing throughout. Sophie’s Elvira was the only woman on stage for whom we could have any sympathy, though her feelings for the Don seemed unreasonable. Mary’s Zerlina became more sympathetic as the evening progressed. It was typical of the production that when Masetto hit her quite forcefully the bruise was quickly apparent and remained for the rest of the performance, a reminder that violence can never be easily ignored.  

Joshua Bloom was a stalwart Leporello, glorying in the catalogue aria and obviously happy with his master’s depravity. Grant Doyle as the Don showed how easily personal corruption is accepted by a society that is itself corrupt. There was little to like about his character and it was difficult to see why women fell for him when he had so little to offer. One of the more interesting facets of the production was the growth of Jesus Leon’s Ottavio from wimp to controller, though the stages were not totally clearly indicated.

Natasha Jouhi as Anna was in the unfortunate position of trying to justify the impossible. Though she sang lustily it was difficult to see why she was so upset if she knew from the start who has attacked her father, and that he in turn is not actually dead.

Douglas Boyd conducted briskly and the orchestra sounded secure throughout, with pleasing continuo work from the forte-piano. BH