The delightfully amoral playboy Don Giovanni is loved by women on an unprecedented scale and is attended by his manservant, Leporello. Photo: Supplied
The balmy Highveld breeze was infused with an ambient mix of anticipation and excitement on the way to the Mandela Stage at the Joburg Theatre on a Sunday evening. I was eager for the performance of what I had been told was both one of the greatest operas of all time and one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s trio of masterpieces, Don Giovanni.
What I discovered was that Israeli con man and one-time Netflix fiend Simon Leviev was indeed not the first Tinder Swindler to ply his particular style of emotional obfuscation on matters of the heart.
‘Don Giovanni’ in context
The work premiered at the original National Theatre in Prague on 29 October 1787. The year before had seen Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro performed to significant acclaim from audiences and so, a second commission for the maestro was forthcoming to keep bums on seats. Mozart’s opera buffa (comic opera) takes place in two acts and centres around the fictional character of the libertine Don Juan and his eventual descent into hell. Entertaining stuff for a Sunday.
The delightfully amoral playboy Don Giovanni is loved by women on an unprecedented scale and is attended by his manservant, Leporello.
Act I
The first act opens with a masked Don Giovanni rushing out of a house, pursued by the lovely Donna Anna, as her father, the commandant of Seville, attempts to defend her honour. A duel ensues and things end in the worst possible way for the commandant, while Donna Anna’s fiancé Don Ottavio (yip, she too had a bout of the playgirl in her) pledges to avenge his death.
The next morning, master and servant are seen sauntering around and encounter Donna Elvira (another past conquest) who is seeking the masked man who betrayed her. Don Giovanni realises who she is and makes a quick getaway, much like Simon Leviev on a private jet out of Bulgaria, leaving Leporello to explain the situation to poor Elvira.
The swindler of 1787 and his manservant then crash the wedding celebrations of Zerlina and Masetto where, true to his ways, he flirts with Zerlina. Anna and Ottavio arrive at the same party and Elvira tells them all about the true character of Don Giovanni. In the casual flick of a finger, Don Giovanni swipes left and is gone.
The act ends with a party at Playboy Central as Anna, Ottavio and Elvira arrive all masked up. Don Giovanni pulls a move on Zerlina, who blames Leporello when his true motives are revealed. This is Leviev to a tee — remember his bodyguard Piotr Kaluski? Leviev, I mean Don Giovanni, again manages to escape.
Act II
Undeterred by his lack of success with Elvira, the second act starts with Don Giovanni intent on making nooky with Elvira’s maid. He switches clothes with Leporello and instructs him to woo her. Enter Elvira who is led away by Leporello disguised as Don Giovanni. Masetto arrives with a mob of fellow locals seeking revenge, but is misled by Don Giovanni, disguised as Leporello, sending them in the wrong direction.
The supposed Don Giovanni (Leporello in disguise) is accosted by Anna, Zerlina and Masetto, at which point Leporello reveals his true identity before making his escape. Ottavio asks the others to look after Anna as he once again sets off in search of Don Giovanni. Think Interpol in the 18th century.
Having made his escape, Leporello joins bad boy Don Giovanni in a cemetery and they come upon a statue of the commandant. The statue speaks to Don Giovanni and warns him of his impending doom. Don Giovanni laughs off the theatrics and invites the ghostly statue to dinner.
At the slap-up meal, Elvira makes an appearance and begs Don Giovanni to change his ways and marry her, but he’s having none of that. The statue too asks Don Giovanni to repent, which in true swindler style he refuses to do. The work ends with Don Giovanni consumed by the flames of hell.
The cast
Translated into English by Amanda Holden, the work was produced in-house by the Joburg Theatre and directed by Christoph Dammann, in consultation with Musa Nkuna. The production featured a cast and crew of top local and international performers, a chorus by Gauteng Choristers and music by the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Stert.
The part of Don Giovanni was well handled by American operatic bass-baritone Kevin Short with German bass-baritone Oliver Weidinger as his trusty sidekick Leporello. Portuguese soprano Carla Caramujo performs in the role of Donna Anna, while South African-born Pumeza Matshikiza takes on Donna Elvira. Nkuna also takes on the role of Don Ottavio, while Njabulo Mthimkhulu performs the role of Masetto, and Kimmy Skota, his fiancé, Zerlina. Andreas Hörl plays the commandant of Seville.
The work was an unusually tense piece for Mozart when it first premiered, and not entirely understood in his own time. But Don Giovanni was recognised within a generation and it continues to be recognised as one of the greatest of all operas. I wonder how long the Tinder Swindler’s fame will last?