Well it’s about time!

I’ve been watching productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni all my life that end with some sort of ludicrous & unbelievable encounter between the anti-hero and his fake stone guest, who comes to drag him to hell.

Until now that is.

The new production the Canadian Opera Company have brought in via the English National Opera, directed by Kasper Holten with sets designed by Es Devlin and projections designed by Luke Halls takes advantage of modern stagecraft and CGI.

Yes operas often make huge demands on the imagination. We want to believe. I don’t want to offer any spoilers except to say that there are scary moments in Holten’s Don Giovanni and not just at the end. This Don Giovanni doesn’t shrink away from the implications of a story that asks us to believe that the spirit of a murdered character comes back to haunt his killer.

It’s a curious coincidence that in 2024, the year of Czech Music, both of the operas in the COC winter season have Czech origins, Mozart’s opera having premiered in Prague.

The version we get minus the usual epilogue ends the opera with the Don’s demise. It’s the first time I’ve seen it done this way, a version that was more common in previous centuries than in our own. While I think I prefer the opera with the extra scene containing the reflections of the characters at the conclusion, this shorter version has the advantage of getting us out of the theatre sooner, while placing the focus squarely on the lead.

Speaking of which, Gordon Bintner as the Don is a secure presence who sings the role brilliantly. We hear a nuanced Mozartean who can be softly seductive or a boastful brute without apology or remorse. His physical presence is as persuasive as the singing, the total package. You won’t hear a prettier baritone sound in this role.

Alongside the Don is the superb Leporello of Paolo Bordogna, a gifted comedian with terrific timing and a lovely voice. His catalogue aria is a thing of great beauty, and will make you laugh.

Of the three women the Don is chasing, first we meet the Donna Anna of Mané Goloyan, a soprano who interpolates a high D into her big first act aria “Or sai chi l’onore”, She was totally vulnerable in a role that can be swamped under the weight of her calls for vengeance for her father’s murder, like a walking guilt trip. I like her version of the character more than any I’ve seen, a wonderfully human take.

Her betrothed is Don Ottavio, sweetly sung by Ben Bliss in a more macho reading of his part than many I’ve seen, both in the ensemble numbers or in his two arias. While Ottavio is sometimes portrayed as a hapless and passive bystander, waiting for Anna to get past the anger & demands for vengeance over her father, Bliss makes a believable whole out of the parts Da Ponte wrote for him in the libretto. The other member of the family is The Commendatore of David Leigh, getting to do more than usual in Holten’s Don Giovanni. I want to be spoiler free, but he’s the key to this production.

As Zerlina Simone McIntosh gets to sing the best melodies of the whole opera, the woman who is most relatable, and Simone didn’t disappoint. With the Masetto of Joel Allison, we see the closest thing to normal people in the opera. Masetto shows us frustration and anger in a couple of numbers, but never gets a chance to get even with the Don. 

But have no fear, the story makes sure justice is done.

The 95 minutes until the intermission flew by. I recall seeing Conductor Johannes Debus say on Facebook that “Toi toi everyone! It’s going to be a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish!”

He wasn’t wrong. The orchestra played cleanly, quickly while Johannes offered brilliant support to his cast, especially in the finales to each act.

That makes two shows in the winter season of the COC that make great first operas, although Don Giovanni’s music is fairly well-known compared to the Janacek.

So far Perryn Leech’s approach (the new General Director) at the Canadian Opera Company seems to be certain to be popular, bringing in productions that are visually appealing while telling the story in a compelling fashion that doesn’t venture too far away from the score as written.

Don Giovanni continues at the Four Seasons Centre until February 24th.