It came as no real surprise that the Opéra de Paris would take Ivo van Hove's bleak, rather conventional Don Giovanni off the play calendar after just one season. Van Hove had his characters evolve in a gloomy labyrinth of concrete, an urban environment from which all life had disappeared. Claus Guth sets the action in a mysterious, nocturnal spruce forest, placed on a revolving stage that creates spectacular spaces and is skillfully lit by Olaf Winter. The good news is that the collusion between scenography and the actors' direction ensures that, as a spectator, you won't be bored for a second. Call it a master class if you want.
Guth's production of Don Giovanni was created for Salzburg (2008), was then picked up by Berlin and Milan and is now in Paris. From the "Haus für Mozart" to "La Grande Boutique" is a big step, and the production does not quite find its balance in the Opéra Bastille's large acoustic space. The sound masses tend to dilute and Claus Schmidt's scenographic solution gives the soloists little support. The result is somewhat frustrating : the orchestra, which under the direction of Giancarlo Rizzi is very considerate of the soloists, often sounds underpowered as a result.
The capital phrase from which Claus Guth developed his staging of Don Giovanni is Leporello's question after the duel with the commander : "Who is dead. You or the old one?" It is the old one, as Lorenzo da Ponte intended, but the commander, before being clubbed to death, still managed to fend for himself and shot his daughter's assailant in the abdomen. The scene could already be seen in slow motion during the overture. Ergo, the character of Don Giovanni takes on the urgency of a dying man who realizes there is little time left and nothing left to lose. It places his vitality and mythical zest for life in extra focus. That he will fail to add another conquest to his extensive catalog now becomes somewhat plausible. On the other hand, the director does not require him to develop suicidal traits as is the case in other productions. None of this prevents him from being as vital as ever in most scenes. Perhaps thanks to the heroin injection his servant plopped into his upper arm after the unfortunate duel.
The core of Don Giovanni's existence revolves around his indomitable libido and women's fascination with it. Both men and women can relate to it, and thus a myth is created. About the latter, Guth leaves no doubt. As in most productions of recent years, the women circling Giovanni are not victims. His relationship with Donna Anna is clearly consensual. There is no question of rape. Donna Elvira will sing "Mi tradi quell' alma ingrata" with his head in her lap, her hands smeared with the blood from his wound. Later, Donna Anna will also secretly hold Giovanni's hands during her feigned declaration of love to Don Ottavio ("Non mi dir, bell' idol mio"). The blood from Giovanni's wound thus becomes a powerful visual symbol of both women's attachment to their seducer. While the Don Giovanni's in the contemporary art world suffer from ruthless witch hunts, the Don Giovanni myth in opera still remains intact, at least in this 2008 production. Will the outrageous #MeToo agenda finally make it falter? Even with Van Hove, the two female lead characters remained enamored of their emotional attacker.
As Donna Elvira waits in the bus shelter for a bus that will never come, isn't this the perfect metaphor for her frustrating relationship with her libertine husband? Funny is Don Ottavio, a bespectacled sympathetic nerd who reaches for his cell phone for every problem but gets no connection in the woods. His biggest unsolvable problem-his relationship with Donna Anna-will leave him firmly in despair. No champagne during the champagne aria but beer from a can of the green beer devil Heineken. Don Giovanni pours it over his head : a real beer connoisseur! The next scene is also very successful. Of course it is again Don Ottavio who has bad luck with his car. Smoke rises from under the hood; his clumsy intervention immediately causes a short circuit. At such moments, Guth reminds us that we are watching a dramma giocoso. Leporello is like a twin brother of his boss. During his boss' party, he choreographs a night rave. This is also very good.
The revolving stage is often in motion and the scene changes are lightning fast. The seamless transition of the Zerlina/Masetto duet into the Don's party music made a big impression.
Sometimes beautiful parallel beams of light pierce through the foliage. One of the trees did not survive the first act and lies broken off at the bottom from a lightning strike. It is the stepping stone for Elvira's balcony scene and for the serenade at the window that is not there. Elvira is blindfolded to go along with the intrigue. Don Giovanni's last supper is a sober snack washed down with beer. The commander digs a grave for the Don. If he returns from the dead in the original text why not as a Shakespearean gravedigger? The stick his servant tries to hand him, Giovanni refuses. That he faces his moral punishment as a dying man with an open mind is only natural. The piece ends like the Viennese version i.e. without the moralizing final sextet that Mozart seems to have added in Prague to escape censorship. One wonders how things will proceed with Don Ottavio and Donna Anna. Will they stick to a one-year postponement of the marriage?
The B-cast was led by Kyle Ketelsen as Don Giovanni. He has everything for a good Don Giovanni : the looks, a nice timbre, a good projecting voice and he can clamber over a bus shelter. I don't see Peter Mattei of the A-cast doing it as well. He sounded at his best during the serenade ("Discendi, o gioia bella"); the canzonetta "Deh vieni alla finestra" seemed to me to lack a touch of color to compete with Peter Mattei. Julia Kleiter as Donna Anna, announced as having a cold, achieved all the high notes with no problem but lacked some power in the dramatic "Or sai chi l'onore." Twice Cyrille Dubois will get all of the attention of the audience as Don Ottavio. "Dalla sua pace" was very beautiful with its descents to piano but without the power to make the final phrase swell heroically as heldentenors like to do. "Il mio tesore" he can provide with a fine messa di voce befitting his abilities. A talent to follow. Tara Erraught sang a solid unobtrusive Donna Elvira. Bogdan Talos as Leporello managed to deliver a powerful catalogue aria despite the not super-bright voice . Talos was also very good in the recitatives.
Marine Chagnon as Zerlina possesses a well-projecting voice with a fine timbre. The two weakest voices came from the A cast. Guilhem Worms as Masetto and John Relya as the Commendatore. Relya has the depth but was difficult to understand.