VALDOSTA —
VALDOSTA — Editing Mozart isn’t for sissies.
It takes a certain knowledge, talent and sheer chutzpah to perform surgery on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alas, in our age of short-attention spans, it is a challenge which many opera productions must consider, given that many of Mozart’s originals stretched as long as four hours.
While such editing occurs, Valdosta State University Opera notes that cutting Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” for this weekend’s performances has presented its own set of challenges.
Don Giovanni is Italian for the womanizing Don Juan. Here, Giovanni ravishes Donna Anna, a noble woman. The commendatore, her father, attempts to save her. In a sword fight, Giovanni kills the commendatore. Eventually, Giovanni finds himself beside a statue of the commendatore. The statue hurls insults at Giovanni, who invites the statue to dinner. At the appointed hour, the “Stone Guest” arrives and drags Giovanni into the pits of hell. Other women and intrigues are sprinkled throughout the opera’s main plot.
While other Mozart operas offer moments that seem opportune for modern exclusion, “Don Giovanni” is tightly scored and composed. The music and story are such that any editing must be made with a delicate hand and a more deft ear, explains stage director William Dwight Coleman.
As a guest artist from Georgia State University, Coleman has directed several past VSU Opera productions but this is his first since the mid-2000s. He explains that “Giovanni” is also one of Mozart’s most famous operas. It was the second to last of his opera compositions.
Making cuts requires a balancing act. Younger audiences and newcomers will either not attend or will not sit still for a four-hour opera; however, purists want it all, every aria, every note, Coleman says. So, the cuts must make the opera more accessible to new audiences while not offending regular patrons by harming the integrity of music and story.
Still, even with the cuts, VSU Opera’s “Don Giovanni” is expected to run just under three hours. Close to the length of most Broadway musicals.
“Opera is the ultimate musical theatre,” Coleman says.
“Don Giovanni” will have the VSU guest Georgia State University singers, including Jorge Trabanco Filho in the title role, singing in English as well as the opera’s original language of Italian, says Carol Mikkelsen, the opera’s producer and director. The use of any language other than an English adaptation is a first for VSU Opera.
Despite length or language barriers, two qualities should remain apparent to modern audiences, says conductor Kenneth Kirk in his program notes.
“The first is the sublimity of the music. Certainly it has more breath-taking passages per minute that just about anything else ever written. ... Other operas have their detractors, but not this one. ... The second thing about ‘Don Giovanni’ is that it is utterly politically incorrect. ‘Womanizer,’ ‘seduction,’ ‘conquest’ — we have other names for, and other views on, such things nowadays. One reason the show is still played is the ultimate punishment of Giovanni’s sins.”
These sins and his punishment remain the essence of “Don Giovanni,” and there’s no worry that these will remain central to even an abridged version.
THE CAST: Jorge Trabanco Filho, Dariusz Ocetek, Andy Morris, David Ben Thomas, Stephen McCool, Missy Griffin, Tammara Housel, Caroline Hatchett, Amy Frazier, Lacie Hall, Terri Parker, Hilary Lee, Rakeeta Laird, Ivey Andrews, Nicholas Baggarley, Sean Wassmuth, Austin Rivers, Nathan Calvert, Jake Griffin.
ORCHESTRA: Nancy Alvarado, concertmaster, Alexandra Lipsky, violin I; Almisha Tobler, principal, Danielle McNeil, violin II; Larissa dos Santos, principal, Mario Rivera, viola; Tugce Cavusoglu, principal, Alexander Paul, violoncello; Trent Harper, principal, Joshua Weathers, contrabass; Nicole Kessler, principal, Theresa Griffith, flute; Chelsea Slagor, principal, Garry Morales, oboe; Erin Whalley, principal, Kaitlyn Ward, clarinet; Tyler Johnson, principal, Sara Hatchett, bassoon; Joseph Gill, principal, Jesse Lawhorn, horn; Brian Summerlin, principal, Blake Rothermel, trumpet; Jaron McCarr, principal, Cayla Gillette, Zachery Jones, trombone; Nancy Davis, timpani; Valerie L. Holton, keyboard; David Durden, mandolin; Joshua Weathers, crew. ON-STAGE ORCHESTRAS: Jenny Zimler, principal, Tiffany Ryce, principal, Gabriel Bickerstaff, Liam Bickerstaff, Dylan Duke, Jacob Powers, violin; Kayden Candelario, violoncello; Dian Candelario, contrabass.
DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Carol Mikkelsen, producer, director; Kenneth Kirk, co-producer, conductor; William Dwight Coleman, stage director; Maria Taylor, choreographer; Joe Muncy, set designer; Hollis Barnett, projection artist; Dorothy Barnes, costumer; Kathleen Kirk, media artist.
SHOWTIME
Valdosta State University Opera presents Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”
When: 10 a.m. today, Feb. 3; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4; 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5.
Where: Whitehead Auditorium, VSU Fine Arts Building, corner of Oak and Brookwood.
Tickets: $15, public; $5, non-VSU students; free, VSU students with ID.
Reservations, more information: Call VSU Music, (229) 333-5804; or visit www.valdosta.edu/music
Local News
Related Photos
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Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times Don Ottavio (David Ben Thomas) woos Donna Anna (Missy Griffin) in Valdosta State University Opera’s ‘Don Giovanni’ playing this weekend.
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Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times An angry crowd confronts Leporello (Dariusz Ocetek) in Valdosta State University Opera’s ‘Don Giovanni’ playing this weekend.
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Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times Masetto (Stephen McCool) takes aim at Don Giovanni (Jorge Trabanco Filho) in Valdosta State University Opera’s ‘Don Giovanni’ playing this weekend.
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Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times Don Giovanni (Jorge Trabanco Filho) seduces Zerlina (Caroline Hatchett) in Valdosta State University Opera’s ‘Don Giovanni’ playing this weekend.
Discussion
Don Giovanni: VSU presents Mozart’s most famous opera
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