A funny thing happened on the way to the opera…
Well, not so much funny as annoying. Tuesday evening, we arrived at the Lyric at 7:10pm. We found a line coming out of the building and wrapping around the corner of Madison and Wacker. I’ve never experienced any line in my nineteen years of attending the shows at the Lyric Opera. This incident was being generated by the ‘will call’ box office and unfortunately that was where we needed to pick up our tickets. We stood in line for 25 minutes. And secured our tickets at 7:35pm. Even though this was a Lyric operational inefficiency, we still were penalized. The Lyric always starts promptly. (I heard a rumor years ago it costs $10,000 for every minute the curtain is held.) And latecomers are not sat until a scene transition interlude or intermission.
We were told that we wouldn’t be sat in our main floor seats until after intermission. We were ushered to the side of the fourth floor with the other thirty-some victims of ‘will call.‘ Although music aficionados enjoy a higher perch for the richness in sound, I felt disconnected from the emotion. And Jen had trouble reading the supertitles. The first act was to be 1.5 hours. We decided to not stay. As we were departing through the grand foyer, an usher inquired why we were leaving. We explained our predicament. She called the house manager. The house manager apologized and arranged for us to sneak into the main floor during a scene transition. Even though our temporary Act 1 seats were much further back than our Act 2 seats, we were so glad that we stayed for this magnificent production.
Lyric Opera presents DON GIOVANNI.
This was my third time seeing “Don Giovanni.” This current production has a contemporary bent. Director Robert Falls adds a layer of debauchery to the well-known playboy story. This notorious opera bad boy is deliciously wicked. The magnetic Mariusz Kwiecien (Giovanni) snorts coke, uses people and throws money around like a pompous celebrity. Costume Designer Ana Kuzmanic adds to the ostentatious storytelling by dressing Kwiecien in vibrant colors and rose colored sunglasses. His wardrobe is a cross between a swashbuckling Errol Flynn and a smoke jacketed Hugh Hefner. Kwiecien unapologetically flirts his way around town and across the stage. Some of the best comedy moments are Kwiecien seducing his latest conquest while his sidekick Kyle Ketelsen (Leporello) mocks the situation on the sideline.
In unexpected ways, Falls teases out the classism within this beautifully composed Mozart opera. When Kwiecien picks up a local peasant gal, Adriana Chuchman (Zerlina), their bittersweet exchange has an edgy reality to it. The smooth-singing Kwiecien fondles Chuchman with promises of marriage. A wistful Chuchman swoons under the nobleman’s attention but she also resists in emotional uncertainty. Chuchman allows herself to be wooed but then pulls back, hides out, runs away. The gravity of the encounter has never hit me more than in this production. Kwiecien could rescue her or destroy her depending on whether he is in love or lust. Falls facilitates this in such a way that Kwiecien’s true intention is always blatant to the audience.
Under the spirited baton of Sir Andrew Davis, the salacious and the indignation blend for a harmonious spectacle. All the principals excel in expressing their heated passion in song. A chapel scene bring all Kwiecien’s wrongdoings into pitch perfect focus as Ketelsen, Chuchman, Marina Rebeka (Anna), Antonio Poli (Ottavio), Ana Maria Martinez (Elvira) and Michael Sumel (Masetto) sing their revenge. Throughout the show, the dominating Martinez has regular intervals of professions of rage and love. With our late entry, we missed the innocent love obsession of Martinez at the beginning. When we arrived, she was already spurned and in full destroyer mode. Her colorful performance embodies the saying ‘hell has no fury like a woman scorned.’
The love, lust and hate take place on Designer Walt Spangler’s dynamic set. Falls paces this opera fast-moving. Spangler aids the smooth scene transitions with his fluid scenery. On the way to the villa from the quaint stoned village, a black curtain with large black embossed roses drops. A scene takes place in front of the curtain. When it lifts, we’ve arrived at Spangler’s hedge-lined villa garden or a cemetery on a hillside. When the ball starts, guests wave to people in the garden from inside the villa. Then the hedges disappear and the villa swirls open showcasing the interior grand room where the party is in full progress.
Spangler’s ever-changing visual going back and forth from excessive to pious. It parallels the forces at combat. Kwiecien’s insatiable nymphomania verses the people. Both his merriment and depravity seduce the ladies and the audience. DON GIOVANNI is the man to love for this season.
Running Time: Three hours and thirty minutes with one intermission
At Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker
Dramma giocoso in two acts in Italian
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Edited for the New Mozart Edition (Neue Mozart-Ausgabe)
by Wolfgang Plath and Wolfgang Rehm
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
Directed by Robert Falls
October 2nd, 5th, 8th, 24th at 2pm
October 11th,14th, 17th, 29th at 7:30pm
Buy Tickets at www.lyricopera.org
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