Don Giovanni

Peter Mattei might be the sexy title character and Luca Pisaroni his unhappy servant in Don Giovanni.A Metropolitan Opera output of an opera by 50 percent operates by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Conductor, Fabio Luisi director, Michael Grandage.Don Giovanni - Peter Mattei Leporello - Luca Pisaroni Donna Anna - Marina Rebeka Donna Elvira - Barbara Frittoli Zerlina - Mojca Erdmann Don Ottavio - Ramon Vargas Masetto - Joshua Blossom The Comendatore - Stefan KocanThe combination of Donmar Warehouse artistic director Michael Grandage and gifted baritone Mariusz Kwiecien appeared as being a potent one -- the first sort making his Metropolitan Opera pointing debut having a completely new output of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," the 2nd showing NY to his acclaimed interpretation in the title role. However it wasn't being, due to an injuries that sidelined Kwiecien. Fill-in Peter Mattei could not save the evening from a sense of disappointment: Grandage has produced a staging that appropriately encounters the paces without delivering much if this involves insight or excitement. It's possibly churlish to grouse about Mattei when he walked in on such short notice, but the truth is he lacks the charisma of Kwiecien, who is surely a effective presence onstage. Since the sexy Don, Mattei comes off a great deal a lot more like a tall, gawky frat boy from the Judd Apatow film, and also the voice, while fluid, does not carry the burnished, oaken quality one craves for your part. It had been a production produced to showcase Kwiecien's star charisma, that may have invigorated the proceedings. Grandage's primary departure from tradition is always to move the knowledge in early 17th century for the mid-18th, also to add a bit more groping and fondling than we are familiar with seeing. Set and costume designer Christopher Oram creates a production heavy on monochrome, getting one set showing three tiers of balconied home home windows that frequently split apart into modular sections and be the kind of arcaded backdrop. What looks striking at curtain's rise begins to use thin with the finish in the extended evening. Grandage does, however, deliver a coup for your finale: Giovanni makes his trip lower to Hell based on huge bursts of real flame so effective you'll be able to possess the warmth shooting out into the auditorium. The cast is uneven, with bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni giving the evening's most appealing and well-rounded performance as Giovanni's unhappy servant Leporello. Ramon Vargas can be a kind of elegance as Don Ottavio his exquisite "Il mio tesoro" in Act II makes him a sustained ovation. Joshua Blossom is certainly an endearing Masetto with fine-grained tone, but Stefan Kocan proves a shaky-voiced, unimposing Commendatore. The women fare poorly, with Barbara Frittoli as Donna Elvira making particularly rough, patchy sounds throughout Act I. Marina Rebeka can be a believably tortmented Donna Anna, and her voice rings out remarkably within the upper register, but she lacks the burden and gravity required for the role's heavier, more declamatory sections. Mojca Erdmann is serviceable but a little more as Zerlina. Inside the pit, Fabio Luisi ably substitutes for your indefinitely-sidelined James Levine he conducts in the harpsichord, that they comes with the opera's recitatives.Set and costume designer, Christopher Oram lighting designer, Paule Constable. Opened up up and examined March. 13, 2011. Running time: 3 Several hours, 30 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com