Don Giovanni, 1787

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte

Directed by Richard Jones

Conducted by Mark Wigglesworth
Translated by Amanda Holden

I had the pleasure of seeing this production by the ENO at the London
Coliseum on Saturday and so the live performance was my artefact of the
work.

- I hadnt read any reviews prior to watching the performance and

therefore didnt know what to expect. Having seen a few operas by
the ENO previously (including Carmen), I knew the company had a
tendency to modernised old works through the staging, translation
and dress. When the curtain came up, the audience were surprised
with a huge WANTED poster with Don Giovannis face on it. I
thought this may have spoiled the plot for those who may not have
known it before. Immediately the audience was aware from both the
dress and set design that the action was set in the latter half of the
20th century.
- The staging was not always coherent. Walls of the apparent
hotel/brothel in which most of the plot took place, constantly
moved. Sometimes this happened needlessly in the middle of the
scene and the audience were left not knowing where the action was
currently taking place.
- The director unusually provided a back story between Don and Anna
which isnt instructed in the original score. We see them enacting
some rather explicit sexual fantasies in the hotel room before her
father enters. This was confusing as Anna them seems to be lying
later when giving an account of her fathers death and therefore
there was a lack of empathy with the character. Before his death,
the father is seen with a prostitute in the next bedroom. Again this
removes any empathy that may have previously been intended. The
treatment of the action was so far removed from Mozarts original
directions that I found the plot confusing in ways I hadnt before. I
think this may have been the directors attempt at making social
statements about things we still find a taboo in todays society, such
as sexual fantasy and violence.
- The Catalogue aria listing all of Giovannis lovers was staged using
an abundance of red books that filled all of the doors of the hotel.
This heightened the only real comic section of the opera.
- The finale of the first act resembled Stanley Kubrick film with the
music being accompanied by obscure, surreal dances by the chorus
at various locations across the stage, which stylistically, completely
contradicted Mozarts composition. The audience seemed to be
laughing in confusion, not really knowing what they were meant to
be taking from the scene. This being said, the choreography
 accentuated the theme of existentialism explored through the
themes of the work.
- The treatment of the relationship between Giovanni and Leporello
was extremely innovative and comical. The pair were presented as
alter egos of each other, capable of assuming each others identities
in a flash. This made for a very surprising ending!
- There were some unexpected tempo choices made by the MD, such
as the slower second half of Batti Batti. I wasnt sure what the
intended implications of this were.
- Overall I thought it was an innovative interpretation of Mozarts
work but that some of the themes were abandoned in favour of
shocking the audience with some BDSM!

Violet, 1997
Music by Jeanine Tesori, libretto and book by Brian Crawley
Based on the short story The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts
I listened to the Original Broadway Cast Recording, starring Sutton Foster,
from 2014 as my artefact of the show.
- My immediate impression of the musical was that it must set in the
southern states of the U.S given the Country and Western sonic
aesthetic created in numbers such as All to Pieces. This is achieved
by the fiddle accompaniment and banjo.
- The score provided a musical social commentary of life in the states
at that time as there was an amalgamation of genres and styles.
This reflected the racial tension of the time as we hear gospel music
(Raise Me Up) alongside country.
- On My Way, musically reflected the sense of journey, discovery and
self-expansion that the protagonist is longing for throughout the
show. As the harmony is introduced with the addition of the
ensemble, then combined with singing in unison emphasised the
theme of unity and acceptance.