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A Tad More Sensual
Simon Keenlyside sings Don Giovanni
with the Cleveland Orchestra,
appreciated by KELLY FERJUTZ
British baritone Simon Keenlyside made his American début in the title role of Don Giovanni with the Cleveland Orchestra last week -- the production opened on 19 March 2011 and this review is based on the performance on Tuesday 22 March -- and if all Dons were performed in such a seductive, playful and athletic manner as this, one could only wish he might be cloned, so every company could have one of their own! Even those directors who like to tinker with the plot so as to ensure he wouldn't be done in by the Commendatore.
Don Giovanni really is the original 'bad boy' of the opera world, and as happens in most productions, he rightfully gets his come-uppance at the end of Mozart's monumental opera of the same name. In this production, originally staged by the Zurich Opera as part of the Da Ponte trilogy, and energetically conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, the Don meets his match in the deliciously ditzy Zerlina of soprano Martina Janková, who provides a new definition of 'endearing goofiness'. All of the principals -- the entire production, actually -- were excellent...
Copyright © 27 March 2011
Kelly Ferjutz,
Cleveland USA
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