Don Giovanni
Anthony Kearns
as Don Ottavio
June 4-5, 2011
Lismore, Ireland
Review by Webmaster
(Quotes by many more learned in Opera
than I lend credibily to my review.
I thank them sincerely.)
 | ||||||
© Anthony Kearns, March 17, 2002-2011, All Rights Reserved, All Copyright Laws Apply...lynnco.lc
"....Anthony Kearns' beautifully spun Il Mio Tesoro was a
moment of still beauty, in the middle of the turmoil."
As anyone familiar with this opera understands, this is close to entirely Leprello’s show. And John Molloy was brilliant! From the opening moment of the opera as Leprello entered the “stage” eating popcorn, Molloy was the comedy relief of the evening. From his comic facial expressions to his Dick VanDyke style of slapstick physical comedy, he made us feel like we were caught up in a Marx Brothers routine! It was farcical and utterly hilarious from start to finish, and Molloy was largely responsible for that. Leprello’s Madamina, il catalogo e questo (the singing of the catalogue of Don Giovanni’s conquests) was not only sung well, but interpreted in a preposterously absurd manner causing great ammusement.
Dieter Kaegi had a very unconventional vision when he put this production together. Not only did it take place in current times and dress, it was largely sung in English! Make no mistake, the serious arias were done in their original language and were wonderful. But his irreverent use of English, off-color verbiage and on-stage antics bordering on the obscene, were designed to shock. However, once the audience figured out his strategy, the avant-guard staging managed to bring the audience to tears of laughter! Belly laughs abounded and when the crowd left, they were still smiling and chuckling about this very eccentric adventure with Don Giovanni.
However, there were some glorious musical moments each evening, too. The duets between Anthony Kearns and Cara O’Sullivan as his lovely romantic lead (Donna Anna) including Ah, vendicarm se il puoi, giura quell sangue ognor!, et all, were wonderful. These two voices are a perfect complement to each other. They should sing together more often, in my humble opinion. Cara is a fine soprano with the fullness to her voice that makes it easy to listen to her, and her stage presence is commanding. And of course, Anthony was a great catch for Lismore Music Festival! I couldn't quite "get" the reason that Don Ottavio was portrayed as rather a "geek," but Anthony pulled it off, even to the extent of constantly pushing "his" glasses back up his nose!
I must say that Anthony’s arias were nothing less than brilliant. Dalla sua pace was perfection. However, Il mio Tesoro was no less than radiantly extraordinary! This aria is technically difficult for any tenor, with the result that many of them nearly choke at the attempt, needing a breath at some very inappropriate moment. According to Ronan Tynan, who joined our group for opening night, “Anthony’s Il mio tesoro was the best I have ever heard, just stunning. With the long unbroken string that many tenors cannot achieve, it was stunning when Anthony achieved it so effortlessly!” Veronica Dunne, sitting next to Ronan, agreed with the assessment, continuing “He will go on to great things!” Many hearty BRAVOS escaped the lips of these two esteemed members of the music world of Dublin after Il mio tesoro, and the crowd joined in with their own lengthy cheers of appreciation.
Patrick Healy also lent his opinion of this superb aria: “Anthony’s singing of Il mio tesoro, with all the endemic difficulties that lie therein, was simply dazzling and would have graced any international opera house in the world. It was a great experience to be actually at the performance and hear him effortlessly glide over the many, many difficulties that lie in wait for anybody singing that role. I felt intensely proud of him.” He went on, “I sincerely believe that Anthony’s singing quite outclassed the other performers despite the running comedy engendered in the production.”
Ite O’Donovan, director of the Dublin Choral Foundation, also in the group with whom I was fortunate to attend, commented that “the natural acoustics were unexpectedly perfect; the modern production, with history all around us, was wonderful in the beautiful setting of the 18th century castle stable.” She went on, “There was terrific interaction with the audience. Dieter’s production was world-class and very well cast.” Ronnie added that “it was wonderful to hear so many Irish singers and lovely Irish accents, I’m very proud of them all.”
This is an extremely long opera, so many modern productions eliminate one of Elvira’s arias, and the final sextet was also cut. Ronnie commented that “this seems to be what current directors are doing in order to save time. It is a shame.”
The statue was wonderfully portrayed by Gerard O’Connor and his great bass voice, enhanced by technical magnification in the final scene, was very effective with the decent into hell very convincing. But in my opinion, ending the opera with Don Giovanni’s decent to hell without the ending sextet was a decision that left the ending rather flat. The final sextet is amusing and was missed.
An interesting aside: after opening night at the Chop House where our party went for a late supper, I happened to run into Michael Foley, of Foley’s restaurant in Lismore. He is a former student of Ronnie Dunne and now runs his family’s restaurant, which has been in the Foley family since the mid 1800s. (We ate there the night we arrived and really enjoyed the food and service.) Michael insisted that “Anthony is the very best tenor alive today, and quite possibly the best tenor of all times.”
Andrew Ashwin was a dashing, handsome and extremely convincing Don Giovanni. Gavin Ring did a grand job as Masseto, and Mary O’Sullivan as Masseto's bride Zerlina, was wonderful.
In a supportive role as Donna Elvira, Fiona Murphy was an ideal choice. Fiona has a long list of opera credits, and Lismore Music Festival was lucky to have been able to cast her in their production. She really is quite wonderful, and one of Ronnie's former students, too! She was very convincing and is just beautiful in both voice and appearance. She really was one of the very high points of this production.
One must also mention that the violinist Larissa O'Grady was stunning! Her fingers flew up and down the strings continually making lovely music; she could have been the only instrument in the orchestra, and it would have been every bit as enjoyable. Not to say the other musicians weren't fabulous; but Larissa was incredible!
Because of the fast-paced activity on stage, and the lack of sub-titles from which to transcribe, I’m afraid that it is quite impossible for me to do a thorough, blow-by-blow illustrated synopsis as I generally do. But I will have many beautiful photographs to post in a few days time.
Lismore Music Festival gave permission for Anthony’s Official Website’s photographer to take photos, and Carolyn Beard did so in a very unobtrusive manner. Gail Clevenger managed some photos to contribute as well. I thank them both most sincerely for taking photos, and to the Lismore Music Festival Director's allowing of those photographs.
A special thanks to them also for their kindness to my tour group, even to the extent of a private tour of Lismore Castle. The Lismore Music Festival people welcomed us with open arms, and the driver they provided for us, Sean Willoughby, was an absolute joy to have drive us around Lismore, the beautiful countryside, and Dublin! The population of Lismore seemed to know that our little group was there from America and joined the Festival staff in making us feel welcome and appreciated. Everywhere we went, folks were congenial and kind. A trip back to Lismore would be wonderful!
When I was asked if we’d return to the Festival next year, I said, “It depends upon which tenor you use!” The gentleman asking the question replied that they’d do their very best!
If you get the chance to visit Ireland, the small but inviting village of Lismore would be a great addition to your itinerary.
