The opening night at the Scala of Don Giovanni was the first opera for me. I saw it live at a cinema in Santiago de Compostela. I had no idea that opera was so sexy and beautiful. Now I have a new set of musical idols.

Barbara Frittoli - wearing a magnificent dark blue negligee most of the time! - was my favorite as Donna Elvira: sensuous, loving, desperate, funny. She was fantastic!

Peter Mattei as Don Giovanni was really fresh and exciting. When he wasn't on stage, he was missed. He carried the music along wonderfully.

Anna Netrebko as Donna Anna was very impressive, the audience's favorite, but her lines become a bit wearisome.

Bryn Terfel worked very hard as Leporello, and even lay down in the middle of the Scala's corridor. His was a self-effacing and generous performance.

I had never seen these singers in action, and now I love them. The rest of the cast was also good.

Daniel Barenboim, whom I saw live here in Santiago with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is my favorite conductor, so it was an emotional surprise to see him directing, but it is saddening to find him ravaged by time after some years without seeing him.

As far as Mozart is concerned, did I learn anything? I hardly know him, but I saw that he paints sentences, as Henry Purcell does word-painting, with great care. There is drama and tenderness, a deep sensitivity.

Though I loved the singing, I kept wishing, after the show, that there is an album with the instrumental score, without the vocals superimposed upon the vibrant music.


* During the break, the director of this Don Giovanni, Robert Carson, made some interesting points about this masterpiece by Mozart, adding a sense of gravitas to its comedic nature.

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