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OPERA REVIEW
April 27, 2006
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The Don Conquers Much, Not All By Janos Gereben
To speak of a fine, consistent production of any Mozart opera, especially a "big one" such as Don Giovanni, is far from damning with faint praise. Soloists, stage direction, and orchestra at Opera San José's current presentation of the work have done outstandingly well. The highlights of Thursday's performance were remarkable, though the whole fell short of the rare, extraordinary evening when a relatively small company rivals, or exceeds,
the majors.
The main difference between "fine" and something causing great shouting from the rooftops might have been rooted in the pit. In this double-cast production, utilizing two conductors, those expecting George Cleve's sublime way with Mozart had to settle for Anthony Quartuccio's workmanlike direction, consistent and adequate (again, no small feat in performing Mozart) but without the hoped-for rare, exciting combination of intensity and elegance. The steady, reliable harpsichord continuo, from Veronika Agranov-Dafoe, gave the well-enunciated recitatives a secure platform.
The luck of the draw, however, was fortuitious in the case of the title role. Jason Detwiler, of the other cast, has my respect, based on performances in other roles, but it's hard to imagine anyone more impressive than Joseph Wright, Thursday's Don Giovanni. With a solid, powerful voice, effortless projection, and a true presence in voice and character, Wright created a physically youthful but musically mature and accomplished hero/villain.
In the same category: Janelle Laurenti's Donna Elvira and Lori Decter's Donna Anna, two young but accomplished major singers with powerful performances, free-flowing legato, great projection, notes on the money, and voices consistently charged with vivid details. While there are no weak links in the cast, the rest of the principal singers didn't quite measure up to the Wright-Laurenti-Decter standard. Christopher Bengochea's Don Ottavio and Sandra Rubalcava's Zerlina are illustrative of that difference. Bengochea is a young tenor with a spectacular voice that has an edge to it, a thrill about it, a voice already featuring a near-perfect vibrato. The singing, however, did not measure up to the potential of the voice; audible effort is a major pitfall in a Mozartean role. Rubalcava's pert, charming performance and dedicated singing almost masked the shortcoming of a smallish voice; what was striking in the old Montgomery Theater doesn't quite cut it in the thrice-the-size California Theater. Jesse Merlin's Leporello dealt well with the extensive stage demands on the role; ditto for Gregory Fair's Masetto. Carlos Aguilar was the sonorous Commendatore, somewhat handicapped by the curious decision not to amplify his ghostly voice — one of the extremely rare cases in opera when an electronic boost is not only allowable, but actually required; it's to Aguilar's credit that he boomed well without a boom box.
Production values were high: Lorna Haywood's stage direction judiciously mixed high points with sparse action, Giulio Cesare Perrone's sets served well, Julie Engelbrecht's rich costumes would have made a much more expensive production proud. Haywood was especially effective in moving the chorus in a splendid, Ländler-like dance with the Act 1 duet of Zerlina and Masetto, and in the whirlwind of demons taking the Don to Hell; elsewhere, she refrained from constant movement and shtick, allowing the music to come forth without distraction. Yes, "effective Mozart" is no small accomplishment; Opera San José can be proud of its Don Giovanni. These performances, through May 7, signal a major turnover in Opera San José's unique resident-singer program, as seven of 10 young artists are completing their four- or five-year stay with the company. "Going out into the world" are Decter, Wright, Deborah Berioli, Adam Flowers, Detwiler, Kirk Eichelberger, and Jesse Merlin.
(Janos Gereben is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice. His e-mail address is janosg@gmail.com.)
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