Why Don Giovanni?

(first published in The Cincinnati Post May 9, 2006)

To stage director Paula Williams, the question about Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" -- and about the Don Juan legend in general -- is "why are we obsessed with this man?"

"I think it’s an amazingly perplexing comment on our society that from the 1600s until now, there are people who are in admiration of a character who basically rapes, pillages, steals, thwarts, is anti-religion, anti-this and anti-that.

"That being said, there’s a whole school of thought that looks at Don Giovanni as a romantic hero. How does one balance those two things?"

Williams, director of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s "Don Giovanni" opening at 8 p.m. Thursday in Corbett Auditorium, has no answer.

"I think the world of questions is much more interesting than the world of answers, but there’s obviously something in our makeup which draws us towards something that we should not really be drawn towards."

Is it power? Charisma? The attraction of evil? (Poster girl for the Broadway smash "Wicked" is not the Good Witch Glinda but the Wicked Witch of the West.)

"Those things are always surrounded with some sort of mystique," said Williams, staff director at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and director of CCM’s award-winning "Marriage of Figaro" (Mozart) in 2003.

"It can be erotic, sensual, evil or good. Exactly why we are drawn to figures that could be called inherently evil, immoral or amoral is a very perplexing question. There’s a wealth of literature on the subject."

The elusiveness of the answer and the psychological dimension of "Don Giovanni" are reflected in the design of the CCM production, she said.

"In ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ you’re in the Countess’ room or Figaro’s room. It’s very clear and they’re doing domestic things. In ‘Don Giovanni,’ the actual where are you, who these people really are and what their life consists of outside of the emotional moments that you’re experiencing is very unclear. It’s not a defined thing."

CCM designer Tom Umfrid’s set is basic and can be quickly modified, an advantage because of the fast pace of the opera. "We chose some simple architectural elements that can adjust slightly, and that have windows, doors and places to come and go by so that we can sort of re-define the space as we need without taking extra time. It’s basically three walls that pivot and a few other elements." The costumes, which basically define the period, are 1788-1790.

With libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, "Don Giovanni" is a descendant of the original Don Juan story, a 1630 Spanish drama re-told by Moliere and many others. The lecherous Don, a Spanish nobleman with 2,065 conquests so far (according to his servant Leporello), kills the Commendatore, father of Donna Anna, whom he has taken by posing as her fiancé Don Ottavio. She and Don Ottavio pursue him throughout the opera, assisted by a previous victim, Donna Elvira. In the process, they thwart his attempt to seduce the peasant girl Zerlina (on her wedding day).

If the attraction of "Don Giovanni" is taking vicarious pleasure in breaking rules with impunity – well, he ultimately fails. After escaping a brush with Donna Elvira, he invites a statue of the Commendatore to dinner. When the specter arrives and demands the Don’s repentance, he refuses. Demons materialize and drag him to hell.

The opera closes with an all’s-well-that-ends-well medley. This parting shot enhances the work’s lighter side (Mozart called it a "dramma giocoso").

"It does have comic elements," said Williams. "But one of the things that’s interesting is that they don’t have to do anything funny. It’s the seriousness with which they do it. We laugh at the situation, like Don Giovanni disappearing from Donna Elvira after she’s finally found him. It’s funny because she was so close and then foiled again."

Williams pays more attention to the women than is usually done. "Why don’t we look at it through the eyes of the women? Why are we less concerned about Donna Anna and Zerlina (whom the Don abducts). He married Donna Elvira and then abandoned her. I’m trying to treat them as three-dimensional people who are truly affected by the events around them. Also, they are three very different women. They’re not just pitiful victims, but strong women who have a point of view about how their life has changed."

Williams, who trained in theater at the University of Denver before being seduced by opera during a summer as assistant stage manager at Colorado’s Central City Opera, loves to come to CCM because the standards are so high. "They have a fantastic shop and overall aesthetic. You don’t feel like you’re in an amateur situation at all."

Working with young singers is an added plus.

"It’s fun to be able to do opera with people who haven’t decided what it’s all about yet, for whom it’s the first time. They bring an open perspective. They don’t come with, ‘I’ve done it ten times and I find that for me it works this way.’"

"Instead it’s ‘what are we going to create together?’ It’ll never be that way again."

The opera department of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music presents Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Corbett Auditorium. Tickets are $27 Friday and Saturday, $25 Thursday and Sunday ($17 and $15 for students). Call (513) 556-4183.