Roger Mastroianni Cleveland Orchestra's Don Giovanni Puts Metropolitan Opera To Shame
April 5, 2011
Ohio often yields itself to many surprises, and creative and artistic ingenuity thrives among the endless agricultural fields and the industrial smoke-stacks dotting the horizon. In this same vein, Cleveland, rated by Travel+Leisure magazine as second best to New York for its classical music scene, impresses with its ensembles, music schools and theater. With cohorts Oberlin, Akron and Wooster, Ohio flourishes with the energy that musicians crave, allowing college students to experience exceptional opera without having to travel to New York or Vienna. This is why it was possible, within two weeks in March, to experience two extraordinary performances of Mozart operas La Clemenza di Tito at Oberlin and Don Giovanni at Cleveland’s Severance Hall.
When the Oberlin Opera Theater presented La Clemenza di Tito at Hall Auditorium, I was impressed. The production showcased Oberlin Conservatory voice majors’ breadth of dedication and mastery, confirming why many Oberlin singers have enjoyed successful careers after graduation. Although La Clemenza’s story is set during the reign of the Roman Empire, the Oberlin Opera Theater used a modern set, costuming and props to communicate its message. This type of contemporary approach is very popular among today’s opera companies, as directors striving for historical accuracy often lose the depth and strength of an opera’s intended message. A modern adaptation, however, allows audiences to relate more convincingly and easily to its characters — indeed, just this month the Met set Strauss’s Capriccio in the 1920s rather than the 1770s.
Don Giovanni at Severance Hall followed a similar path. Featuring 2011 Musical America award winner for Vocalist of the Year Simon Keenlyside as Giovanni, with the Zürich Opera and the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, the production transported Mad Men to the Severance stage. Giovanni, opera’s famous casanova, was outfitted in a velvet waist-jacket while other male cast members wore simple, clean-cut suit-jackets. This crucial detail provided a more convenient reference point, allowing the audience to grasp the fullest extent of Giovanni’s seductive nature. Using elements of Severance Hall that could only be seen during a Cleveland Orchestra concert, the simplistic staging helped Don Giovanni become what Welser-Möst calls “a story that can happen here and now.”
At the heart of opera is its historically European roots, from La Scala in Italy to the Opéra national de Paris and London’s Convent Garden. Cleveland’s Severance Hall, however, is not too dissimilar to these exotic locations. According to Welser-Möst, the reason why he waited a year to allow Giovanni to be performed at Severance is because “Cleveland deserves the best”: this is also why he waited for the best baritone in the business, Simon Keenlyside, to become available to take center-stage as Mozart’s Don Juan.
In addition to his turn as Giovanni at Severance, Keenlyside has also appeared at La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and London’s Royal Opera House as well as collaborating alongside Europe’s prominent orchestras — the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. Given Keenlyside’s extensive list of accomplishments, we can be proud to claim that America saw him perform Giovanni for the first time in Cleveland, Ohio.
When the Oberlin Opera Theater presented La Clemenza di Tito at Hall Auditorium, I was impressed. The production showcased Oberlin Conservatory voice majors’ breadth of dedication and mastery, confirming why many Oberlin singers have enjoyed successful careers after graduation. Although La Clemenza’s story is set during the reign of the Roman Empire, the Oberlin Opera Theater used a modern set, costuming and props to communicate its message. This type of contemporary approach is very popular among today’s opera companies, as directors striving for historical accuracy often lose the depth and strength of an opera’s intended message. A modern adaptation, however, allows audiences to relate more convincingly and easily to its characters — indeed, just this month the Met set Strauss’s Capriccio in the 1920s rather than the 1770s.
Don Giovanni at Severance Hall followed a similar path. Featuring 2011 Musical America award winner for Vocalist of the Year Simon Keenlyside as Giovanni, with the Zürich Opera and the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, the production transported Mad Men to the Severance stage. Giovanni, opera’s famous casanova, was outfitted in a velvet waist-jacket while other male cast members wore simple, clean-cut suit-jackets. This crucial detail provided a more convenient reference point, allowing the audience to grasp the fullest extent of Giovanni’s seductive nature. Using elements of Severance Hall that could only be seen during a Cleveland Orchestra concert, the simplistic staging helped Don Giovanni become what Welser-Möst calls “a story that can happen here and now.”
At the heart of opera is its historically European roots, from La Scala in Italy to the Opéra national de Paris and London’s Convent Garden. Cleveland’s Severance Hall, however, is not too dissimilar to these exotic locations. According to Welser-Möst, the reason why he waited a year to allow Giovanni to be performed at Severance is because “Cleveland deserves the best”: this is also why he waited for the best baritone in the business, Simon Keenlyside, to become available to take center-stage as Mozart’s Don Juan.
In addition to his turn as Giovanni at Severance, Keenlyside has also appeared at La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and London’s Royal Opera House as well as collaborating alongside Europe’s prominent orchestras — the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. Given Keenlyside’s extensive list of accomplishments, we can be proud to claim that America saw him perform Giovanni for the first time in Cleveland, Ohio.
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