The HOT Take from the Santa Fe Opera Festival – Don Giovanni

HOT General Director Simon Crookall continues The HOT Take series from the Santa Fe Opera Festival where opera fans and company representatives from around the world have gathered for one of the most popular opera festivals today.

Santa Fe Opera House is a beautiful venue, overlooking the Sierra, with a roof but no walls, even at the back of the stage.  The thunderstorm which accompanied Don Giovanni this week could not have been a better background to the action.  Lightening flashed across the sky throughout the performance, and a massive clap of thunder heralded the entrance of the Commendatore at the dramatic denouement.

The set, designed by Riccardo Hernandez, consisted of one large amorphous structure that was reminiscent of the Anish Kapoor sculptures I saw in English National Opera’s Tristan and Isolde.  Here, the structure had the impression of a human head, reminding us of the constant presence of the Commendatore.  It was beautifully lit, especially as the flames of hell engulfed the Don at the end of the performance.

Daniel Okulitch, who sang the title role for HOT in (2007) was a commanding Don – his sensual portrayal made it easy to see why no woman could resist him.  The cast was uniformly strong, with notable performances from Kyle Ketelson (Leporello), Leah Crocetto (Donna Anna) and Keri Alkema (Donna Elvira).  Crocetto managed to portray her character’s struggle between grief for her father and attraction to the mysterious stranger who tried to seduce her, and she easily rebuffed Don Ottavio’s feeble advances, played by Edgaras Montvidas.  Alkema’s confident singing made Elvira the stronger of the two women in this production, helplessly in love with Giovanni, but determined to “do the right thing”.

Veteran conductor, John Noble, led with distinction. It was good to see his friend and former student, HOT regular, Hal France, in the audience.