Get ready for naked opera.
That’s how Robert Breault, director of the University of Utah’s Lyric Opera Ensemble, is billing the student ensemble’s upcoming performances of "Don Giovanni." The student performers, dressed in street clothes, will sing a condensed version of the Mozart score, with Breault filling in the narrative gaps. Joel Rosenberg will conduct the singers and the Paradigm Chamber Orchestra, a division of Rosenberg’s Festival Concerts.
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The stone guest
The University of Utah’s Lyric Opera Ensemble and the Paradigm Chamber Orchestra present a concert version of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”
Where » Libby Gardner Concert Hall, 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City
When » Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets » $10; $7 for students and seniors; at the door (cash or check only)
In a nutshell » A day in the life of the notorious womanizer Don Giovanni — a day that does not end well.
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"Don Giovanni" tells of the last day in the life of the notorious philanderer also known as Don Juan. The opera begins with Giovanni killing the Commendatore, father of Donna Anna, in a fight after the Commendatore discovers the masked Giovanni in Anna’s bedroom.
Former lover Donna Elvira unexpectedly shows up in town, determined to thwart any further sexual adventures by Giovanni, while Anna and her fiancé, Don Ottavio, try to solve the Commendatore’s murder. Oh, and our antihero also gets embroiled in a subplot involving the peasant couple Zerlina and Masetto. The story takes more than three hours to tell with all of Mozart’s music intact; Breault and his team have trimmed that running time by half.
"We’ve taken out the stuff that takes a lot of time," Breault said. "The [act] finales are intact, and we’ve kept some of the recitative, but we are aiming to give the highlights. … My job [as narrator] is to tell a simple story and let the music illuminate it."
Breault, who sings tenor roles with opera companies all over the world, is a big fan of concert opera. He sang in several productions with Eve Queler’s Opera Orchestra of New York early in his career. "The Carnegie Hall crowd went crazy for it."
The Libby Gardner Concert Hall production, sandwiched between November’s cross-disciplinary Verdi celebration and April’s fully staged production of Carlisle Floyd’s "Susannah," is a valuable learning experience for the students, said Breault. Many performers in the double-cast production are singing their first opera roles ever, and Breault finds them almost giddy over the magnificent score.
Mozart’s music, Breault said, is "like a CAT scan," revealing shortcomings in the unwary singer’s vocal preparation and work ethic. "You can’t fake it. … You can have all those God-given gifts, but God does not give out Mozart singing."
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