Tonight I lost my opera virginity. I was a bit nervous, I saw Don Giovani, it seemed a good introduction as it’s commonly performed and this version was in English. In retrospect the language probably isn’t so important, the words were difficult to understand but they repeated themselves a lot to make up for it. The plot is simple, though from another age, with a moral at the end delivered by sledgehammer. This isn’t really about story though.
There’s music, live and well performed by a small but fantastic orchestra. This is a Mozart work so I expected the music to be a large part of the focus. The singing is musically and technically stunning. The two bassists in particular put in fantastic performances and the groupings intersected well with each other.
In the end though, it comes back to the pomp. We used it as an excuse to dress up and play into the tradition. I think the highlight of the night was really having an excuse to strut around in fancy dress with a beautiful woman on my arm.
All said, I recommend it as an experience. Don Giovani is playing it’s last night in Canberra tonight before continuing through regional NSW and Victoria. There are still tickets available for tonight.
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