Don Giovanni: A Review

Riding up the escalator from the subway, I was instantly greeted by a tall, elegant structure made up of glass and highlighted by lights.  I felt severely underdressed as women in gowns and men in tuxedos walked with me, up the stairs to the Metropolitan Opera House.  I trekked higher and higher up the red, velvety stairs of the Opera House in order to find my seat.  My fear of heights becoming more and more apparent as I frantically gripped the railings next to the seats and relieved when finally locating my seat.  Looking at the stage, I waited as the radial chandeliers slowly ventured up, dimming their lights to indicate the start of the production.

The musical performance began, a nuanced set of sounds, which enhanced the grasping singing of those on stage.  As a huge foreign film watcher, the subtitles in front of me didn’t become a distraction – though knowing the libretto certainly helped.  As a first time spectator at an opera, I expected large voices, enough to encapsulate my very being and overwhelm my senses.  But I, being pleasantly surprised, did not receive that.  In fact, I found the quieter, but full voices of the actors to be enchanting, in a way.  As it forced me to really listen in to the tones of their voices.

The use of the sets in Don Giovanni was also ingenious, as I expected more of a metaphorical approach to the scene changes.  The rotation of that one set created a recognition of the different locations, and the nooks of the set also provided the characters with leeway to not be seen by the other characters, making every movement of the opera extremely believable.

One of my favorite parts of the opera was the “Catalog Aria,” which featured Leporello belting out his master’s tally of conquests all around the world. The laughter shuffling through the audience bolstered the atmosphere of light amusement – it showed how universal the ideas that the opera created actually were.  Another amazing component of the opera was when Don Giovanni actually falls through to hell, the stage opening up, spitting fire – the heat of which brushed my face – an unexpected technological innovation that brought the opera to life.

The imaginative aspects of the opera derailed any preconceived notions I had about all operas, and opened up an entirely new and different world for me.  The day after the opera, I still had many of the arias stuck in my head – displaying the universality of the opera, even coupled with a language I don’t know.