Well it had to happen I suppose, Mozart's Don Giovanni is turning gay; well at least in a new production (version?) of the opera to be presented in Heaven, the nightclub under Charing Cross Station. Dominic Gray is directing and Ranjit Bolt producing a new translation.
But, I'm hearing you ask, how do you make Mozart's Don gay? There have, in fact, been productions where the relationship between Don Giovanni and Leporello has been either homo-social, homo-erotic or down-right intimate; with various degrees of success. I seem to remember one production where the Don seemed to spend rather too much time an a dress. Please!
For this new production, all the characters bar Don Giovanni himself are swapping sex. So that Donna Anna, Donna Elvria and Zerlina become men whilst Leporello and Masetto become women. It makes dramatic sense. And there is a reassuring bit on the website, here, where David Crichton says that they have kept closely to the class-based delineation of the lovers. This is important, Mozart and Da Ponte's opera is about class as much as sex and modern day productions just don't work properly if they ignore the class element.
In this new version the Don becomes a nightclub owner, with Leporello turning into his female PA. Alan (Donna Anna) is from a wealthy, privileged background, Eddie (Donna Elvira) is middle class and Zac (Zerlina) a young working class lad. Also, rather creditably, they are using young singers with operatic/stage backgrounds for the main roles.
From the web-site, which is stylishly but rather annoyingly designed, I am unclear what the accompaniment is going to be. Also, given Heaven's dreadful acoustics, I don't know whether they are going to be using microphones or not. But all in all it sounds a fascinating proposition.
The show is at Heaven starting 15th April 2012. Further details here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana ; Katherine Broderick, Oliver Johnston, Janis Kelly, Michel de Souza, Idunnu Münch, director: Harry Fehr, con...
-
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Kullervo Sets Off for War (Mural, 1901, in the Old Student House, Helsinki University) Sigfúsdóttir: Oceans , Grieg: ...
-
Puccini: Il tabarro - Yvonne Howard, Natalya Romaniw - Welsh National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller) Puccini: Il trittico , Dario Solari, Nata...
-
What about blowing the box to pieces: composer Eímear Noone on writing for video games, films and TVEímear Noone (Photo: Andy Paradise) Dublin and LA-based composer Eímear Noone is known for her scores for video games, films and TV. She re...
-
Judith Weir: Blond Eckbert - English Touring Opera Do not take my story for a fairytale , Judith Weir: Blond Eckbert ; Abigail Kelly, Amy J...
-
Wagner: Die Walküre - The London Opera Company, November 2023 London Opera Company presented a full-scale performance of Wagner's Die ...
-
Bernstein: A Quiet Place - Henry Neill, Elgan Llyr Thomas - Royal Ballet & Opera (Photo: Marc Brenner/ROH) Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti...
-
Reinis Zariņš (Photo: Andris Sprogis) Latvian pianist Reinis Zariņš will be performing Olivier Messiaen ’s Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-...
-
Title page of the "Bassus Generalis" for one of the partbooks in which the Vespers were published in 1610 Monteverdi: Vespers of 1...
-
Jake Heggie (Photo: James Niebuhr) Jake Heggie 's song cycle for soprano, violin and string quartet, Intonations : Songs from the Violin...
Just to let you know - there will be a 10 piece orchestra and no microphones... along with some 'club' music arranged by Vince Clarke of Erasure in the Act 1 Finale... Enjoy!..
ReplyDelete