[Met Tour] CID:165660



Don Giovanni
Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts, Mon, April 26, 1954




Don Giovanni (177)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Lorenzo Da Ponte
Don Giovanni
George London

Donna Anna
Margaret Harshaw

Don Ottavio
Cesare Valletti

Donna Elvira
Eleanor Steber

Leporello
Fernando Corena

Zerlina
Nadine Conner

Masetto
Lorenzo Alvary

Commendatore
Norman Scott


Conductor
Max Rudolf







Review 1:

Harold Rogers in the Cristian Science Monitor
London Sings Title Role in Metropolitan ?Giovanni?

Musically speaking, the performance of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" last evening by the Metropolitan Opera Association was almost all that one could wish on an [first] night. There were magnificent voices in nearly every role. The Boston Opera House rang with the richness of Mozartean melody and the suave support of the Metropolitan's orchestra under Max Rudolf.


But as for [first] night glamour, there was far more on the audience side of the footlights than there was on stage. This production was one of the restagings ordered by Rudolf Bing since he took over the position of general manager. In it nearly everything seems to occur about 3 o'clock in the morning. The characters move slowly through an endless, murky night, sometimes carrying lanterns that apparently provide the only illumination obtainable by the electrician.


If the low-key lighting were not enough to dim the sparkle of [first] night, the confusion produced by Charles Elson's single setting was another contributing factor. Here we find an S-shaped ramp that runs between Donna Anna's house on the left to Don Giovanni's house on the right, That is, the house on the left started out as Donna Anna?s, only somewhere along the way it becomes Donna Elvira?s, though Don Giovanni apparently continues to reside at the same location across the street.


Then, too, one is not always certain when the street is a street or Don Giovanni?s dining room ? it all looks the same, you know ? though occasionally it is varied by some kind of a shroud that falls in front of it, indicating a change of place. With the exception of the Don?s shining white costume, the wardrobe is as dismal as the surrounding atmosphere.


But when it came to singing, that was something else again. The title role was graced by the baritone voice and handsome person of George London, unsurpassed as a singing actor among those of the Metropolitan's roster.


In Donna Anna we again witnessed the remarkable versatility of Margaret Harshaw, whose brilliantly focused soprano is equally at home in Wagner's endless melodies or in the ornamental Italian arias, If Eleanor Steber's soprano showed signs of tiring (as a rigorous season draws to a close), her singing for Donna Elvira maintained the elegance of line and phrase for which she is noted.


The work of Fernando Corena comes as a pleasant surprise to Boston audiences. He is a powerful young basso with a true flair for the buffo, and as Leporello he did much to brighten the scene. Cesare Valletti handled his tenor with marvelous artistry in the otherwise colorless role of Don Ottavio. He won the largest ovation of the evening for his "Il mio tesoro intanto."


As Zerlina, Nadine Conner made a winsome appeal, visually and vocally. Her "Batti, batti" was altogether captivating as she sang to Masetto, her bucolic lover, who was amusingly played by. Lorenzo Alvary. Norman Scott did some resonant singing as Donna Anna's father.


The few unhappy musical moments were mainly owing to imperfect synchronization of the orchestra with the voices, but this occurred only in several of the concerted numbers and once during one of Mr. London's arias.



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