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[Met Tour] CID:147960
Don Giovanni
Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fri, May 7, 1948
Don Giovanni (142)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Lorenzo Da Ponte
Review 1:
Review of Norman Houk in the Minneapolis Tribune
Met Cast Triumphs in “Don Giovanni”
The Metropolitan Opera gave the first repeat performance of its series of Minneapolis visits in Northrop auditorium Friday night – Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Ezio Pinza as the Don.
“Don Giovanni” was the big hit of the Met’s performance here in the spring of 1945 and it was the first opera of this season to become a sellout.
There are a lot of reasons for that and the chief one, other than Mozart, is unquestionably Pinza, basso who has at least a first mortgage on the role of the Don if he doesn’t own it. In this classical wolf story he is the public’s reigning favorite, justly as it was shown again Friday night.
Next closest reason is Salvatore Baccaloni as Leporello. Reinforcing this basso-buffo’s antics is a big voice and a keen sense of human values.
It was a strong cast as a whole. Florence Kirk as Donna Anna did fine work throughout and had a personal triumph with her aria in the next to closing scene. Florence Quartararo put drama and intensity into the role of Donna Elvira and Bidu Sayao was a Zerlina cute as all get out. Miss Sayao’s version of Zerlina makes her a psychologically more simplified character than do others, but for a flirtatious peasant maiden that approach can be easily upheld, and her stage business in the part was charming.
A fine foil for Zerlina and very much a character in his bucolic way was Masetto as played by Lorenzo Alvary.
As Don Ottavio, only tenor in the show and there because Mozart didn’t have the nerve to write an opera without a tenor, Charles Kullman again put on his masterly rescue of that role. As though feeling badly over slighting his tenor Mozart provided him with two as ingratiating arias as there are and Kullman made them his. Jerome Hines was the unfortunate Commandatore and his awesome marble effigy.
Max Rudolf conducted again and the orchestra was in good form and the pace maintained.
The settings were the old Joseph Urban scenes, some of them repainted. They are rather standard theater and not in the class with the functional setting used when the Met gave “Don Giovanni” here previously with which more subtle lighting was employed, and which did more to maintain an artistic unity. Costumes were gorgeous and most of them apparently new this season.
The large audience was quickly responsive all through the evening and was justly generous with applause.
Search by season: 1947-48
Search by title: Don Giovanni,
Met careers
Don Giovanni
Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fri, May 7, 1948
Don Giovanni (142)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Lorenzo Da Ponte
- Don Giovanni
- Ezio Pinza
- Donna Anna
- Florence Kirk [Last performance]
- Don Ottavio
- Charles Kullman
- Donna Elvira
- Florence Quartararo
- Leporello
- Salvatore Baccaloni
- Zerlina
- Bidú Sayão
- Masetto
- Lorenzo Alvary
- Commendatore
- Jerome Hines
- Conductor
- Max Rudolf
Review 1:
Review of Norman Houk in the Minneapolis Tribune
Met Cast Triumphs in “Don Giovanni”
The Metropolitan Opera gave the first repeat performance of its series of Minneapolis visits in Northrop auditorium Friday night – Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Ezio Pinza as the Don.
“Don Giovanni” was the big hit of the Met’s performance here in the spring of 1945 and it was the first opera of this season to become a sellout.
There are a lot of reasons for that and the chief one, other than Mozart, is unquestionably Pinza, basso who has at least a first mortgage on the role of the Don if he doesn’t own it. In this classical wolf story he is the public’s reigning favorite, justly as it was shown again Friday night.
Next closest reason is Salvatore Baccaloni as Leporello. Reinforcing this basso-buffo’s antics is a big voice and a keen sense of human values.
It was a strong cast as a whole. Florence Kirk as Donna Anna did fine work throughout and had a personal triumph with her aria in the next to closing scene. Florence Quartararo put drama and intensity into the role of Donna Elvira and Bidu Sayao was a Zerlina cute as all get out. Miss Sayao’s version of Zerlina makes her a psychologically more simplified character than do others, but for a flirtatious peasant maiden that approach can be easily upheld, and her stage business in the part was charming.
A fine foil for Zerlina and very much a character in his bucolic way was Masetto as played by Lorenzo Alvary.
As Don Ottavio, only tenor in the show and there because Mozart didn’t have the nerve to write an opera without a tenor, Charles Kullman again put on his masterly rescue of that role. As though feeling badly over slighting his tenor Mozart provided him with two as ingratiating arias as there are and Kullman made them his. Jerome Hines was the unfortunate Commandatore and his awesome marble effigy.
Max Rudolf conducted again and the orchestra was in good form and the pace maintained.
The settings were the old Joseph Urban scenes, some of them repainted. They are rather standard theater and not in the class with the functional setting used when the Met gave “Don Giovanni” here previously with which more subtle lighting was employed, and which did more to maintain an artistic unity. Costumes were gorgeous and most of them apparently new this season.
The large audience was quickly responsive all through the evening and was justly generous with applause.
Search by season: 1947-48
Search by title: Don Giovanni,
Met careers