Don Giovanni

Livermore Valley Opera's Fine Rendering of Mozart and da Ponte's Masterpiece

By: Victor Cordell - Mar 03, 2025

Without doubt, the genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most fertile harvest from operatic ground came from 1785 to 1790 with the three-opera sequence of Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan Tutte.  Livermore Valley Opera offers the inestimable Don Giovanni, the most regaled serio-comic fantasy in the opera canon.  A cast of outstanding singers give the extraordinary work a rich and rewarding treatment.

The common thread among this trio of operas is that each libretto was written by the magnificent Lorenzo da Ponte.  Don Giovanni is a reworking of the Don Juan myth, but perhaps the fine mosaic integration of incidents with three of the title character’s lovers comes from experience.  Not only was da Ponte close friends with the real-life fellow Venetian, Casanova, who was a legendary lothario, but da Ponte was a debaucher and roué himself.  Some suggest that the opera is a veiled autobiography, and a 2009 Italian film seeks to make that connection.

The overture of Don Giovanni opens with a memorable harsh blast of a chord evincing “a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone…a dream,” (with credit to John Steinbeck’s description of Cannery Row.)  Soon after the action begins, the title character’s indiscretions lead him to a sword fight in which he slays Il Commendatore, father of Donna Anna, whom he has “courted” despite her being betrothed to Don Ottavio.  Hardly the way to start a comedy.

Ensuing are also the stories of Donna Elvira and the peasant Zerlina, both entrapped by Giovanni.  Throughout, he is assisted by his abused and resentful servant and oft times procurer and fall guy, Leporello.   Scenes near the finale bookend the early death of Il Commendatore, who returns as a phantasmagoric statue, foretelling his vengeance and the doom of Giovanni.

Among the unusual features of Don Giovanni is that the two lead males both sing in lower voice types.  While Giovanni is a baritone and Leporello a bass, their ranges are similar enough that occasionally two singers in a production will take turns performing the roles.  In this version, however, the two leads offer as distinctive a contrast in both voice and look as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Titus Muzi III carries aristocratic bearing as Giovanni.  Notwithstanding, his dignity is frequently compromised, trying to cover his footsteps as a result of his indiscretions and even taking on the guise of his servant to avoid threats on his life.  Muzi proves good as an actor as well as singer.  His voice is crisp, smooth, and certain with sonorous resonance.

Samuel Weiser is Leporello, whose rounder, chestier sound with darker timbre fits his role well, and his comic appearance facilitates his many humorous quips.  Yet Weiser’s voice is agile, and he acquits himself well on his signature aria “Il catalogo,” which humorously enumerates the number of Giovanni’s sexual conquests by number per country.

The opera demands three sopranos as Giovanni’s victims, and LVO’s production offers three with suitably varied skills.  Meryl Dominguez wows as Donna Anna, and befitting one whose father has just been murdered, she excels in her upper register with a quivering tragic wail and later with reflective mournful coloration.  Cara Gabrielson portrays Donna Elvira, and she, too thrills in her upper range with a strong vibrato having a clear, penetrating quality.  Phoebe Chee’s role as Zerlina is somewhat smaller, but unlike the other sopranos who are not as strong in their lower range, Chee is very consistent and strong in her mid and lower range, which is demanded by her part.  She also sings beautifully in the most famous music from the opera, “La ci darem la mano,” Zerlina’s lovely duet with Giovanni.

Filling out the cast are LVO favorite, bass Kirk Eichelberger, as Il Commendatore, a brief but significant and well-sung role in the bookend doom scenes.  The others are clarion tenor David Walton as Don Ottavio and fine bass-baritone Joseph Calzada as Masetto, Zerlina’s hot blooded fiancé.

The music, of course, is Mozart, so it’s got to be good.  He particularly gives the two Donnas the opportunity to soar and embellish in charming arias.  And a solemn and heavenly trio “Protegga, il giusto cielo” among Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, and her betrothed, Don Ottavio, provides especially beautiful harmonies.   Nonetheless, it seems that Mozart himself realized that his music in this opera largely lacked memorability.  In the penultimate scene, Giovanni notes tongue in cheek, “you probably know this tune,” following which is sung a sampling of the well-known “Non più andrai” from Le Nozze di Figaro.

In addition to fine singing, Alexander Katsman’s orchestra provides sound support to the vocal score, but it is a bit disadvantaged in the overture because of its limited size.  The costumery, lighting, and movement add to the attractiveness of the staging.  And the doom scene near the end is dramatic.

One area that lacks sparkle through much of the opera is the scenery, despite the imposing physical cornerpieces of the set which are caddywhompus, appropriately suggesting instability.  The stage’s back wall projections often feel static and images appear as distant objects (the imposing ballroom and Giovanni’s doom scenes excepted), creating the sense of a concert performance in front of a mural rather than action closely enveloped by its environs.  Also, while the scenes with the Commendatore lend themselves to menacing atmospherics such as stage fog, colored lighting, or dark costumery to enhance the ghoulishness, the presentation is tame.

As a footnote, librettist Lorenzo da Ponte later fled Europe, morally scandalized and financially bankrupt.  He settled in the United States, becoming a citizen and engendering many firsts. He was Columbia University’s first instructor of Italian literature and opened the first U.S. eatery with Jewish-deli styled food!  He introduced opera performance to this country and later built its first dedicated opera house.  The debut opera performed in the United States, presumably selected by da Ponte himself, was……Don Giovanni.

Don Giovanni, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, is produced by Livermore Valley Opera and plays at Bankhead Theater, 2400 First Street, Livermore, CA through March 9, 2025.