ARTSMONDAY: Simplicity Tells a Good Giovanni Story

ubtlety and understatement are the heroes of the Lowell House Opera’s (LHO) production of Don Giovanni. The well-known opera easily lends itself to ostentation, but the cast and crew of LHO refreshingly approach the opera with a wonderful simplicity.

Using white columns and colored sheets of cloth as their only tools of design, the LHO crew has transformed the Lowell Dining Hall into a small majestic theater space. The minimalist set design leaves almost everything up to the audience’s imagination, forcing audience members to consciously engage in a very personal cogitative play-watching expience, which has its ups and downs.

If one is focused on understanding the details of the plot, the ambiguous set does not provide many clues. The same red sheet represents anything from walls hiding the characters from one another’s views to the flames of hell eventually engulfing the sinful Don Giovanni.

Costumes, too, reflect the production’s deliberate commitment to simplicity. As a result, the design adheres to traditional symbolism—white for the bride Zerlina, black for the mourning Donna Anna, a brown vest for the dingy servant Leporello, and a tuxedo for his master.

But the simplicity is not without a purpose. The de-emphasis of accessory props, costumes, and frilly stage designs clears the path for the main attraction of the opera— the music to shine.

In fact, LHO performers never let their audience forget that a night at the opera is first and foremost a musical experience.

From the first note, the orchestra’s overture immediately sets the show’s tone to a demureness that continues through the night. With tight ensemble and lightning-fast character shifts, the unflinching musicians carry the opera’s musical accompaniment with quiet confidence.

The violinists, led by Anna L. Dickerman ’05 and Ian K. Goh ’06, are particularly remarkable and at times sound almost as if they are playing a single instrument, as they easily synchronize to toss off some difficult violin licks. To keep the music from becoming too heavy during the opera’s emotional ballads, the strings section play using specialized bow strokes with an expertise that betrays their experience as seasoned players.

In fact, the orchestra’s volume hums well beneath that of the soloists throughout the opera. The orchestra’s willingness to provide the often under-appreciated accompaniment demonstrates a mature musical sensitivity that audiences will appreciate. Of course, the player must have realized that it a privilege to play the accompaniment for the Don Giovanni soloists, who all displayed impressive vocal talent.

While many productions squirrel their conductor away in the orchestra pit, Don Giovanni refreshingly features its conductor at center stage. Indeed, even audiences can appreciate the clear musical direction and easy-to-follow beats of the LHO’s magician at work, Gund Unviersity Organist and Choirmaster Edward E. Jones. As the music director, he is the essential glue that holds the instrumentalists and vocalists together.

Don Giovanni (played by professional actor Graham Wright), the suave charmer, seduces women both on- and off-stage with his rich voice. His interactions with his servant Leporello (professional actor Miles Rind) reveal the intimate comedy that occurs between two men who know each other all too well. Maintaining the understatement of the production, the vocalists were careful not to play their humor over-the-top, coaxing the audience members to feel like they were part of an inside joke.

The other vocalists are also well-suited to their roles. Professional actress Alisa Cassola (as Donna Anna) projects a beautifully passionate voice, as she mourns for her murdered father and tells of her fateful encounter with Don Giovanni.

In a show of his dutiful subservience to her, Donna Anna’s betrothed Don Ottavio (professional actor Philippe Pierce) does not reveal his vocal ability until an aria in Act II. After Donna Elvira (professional Krista Wilhelmsen) finds her “tonal center,” the three sing together powerfully about their hatred of the conniving Don Giovanni.

As the young peasant couple of Zerlina and Masetto, Jessica G. Peritz ’05 and Oussama Zahr ’04-’05, display just as much confidence and charisma as their older, professional counterparts. Peritz skillfully shifts her operatic tone from girlishly naïve (in one duet with Don Giovanni) to seductive and pleading, as she tries to win back Masetto’s love.

However, after a story and performances that tugs yearning audiences along, the opera concludes rather abruptly, with a seemingly tacked-on epilogue after the dramatic death of Don Giovanni. Never letting an opportunity for a comedic moment pass, the remaining characters stand in a semicircle, playfully singing the last line of “the evil come to evil ends and the wicked die, just as they themselves have lived.”

The characters’ lighthearted approach to the serious end is in many ways far more affecting than any discussion in a Moral Reasoning class. And perhaps that is why student audience love the show— filling the house and applauding at every possible moment. Even after a three-hour production, the audience’s enthusiasm certainly does not fade, and it is likely that the LHO production of Don Giovanni will end to a standing ovation every time.

—Reviewer Jennifer D.M. Chang can be reached at jdchang@fas.harvard.edu.