Are you supposed to laugh at the end of Don Giovanni? Audiences often do, and they did at the end of Mariame Clément’s new production at Glyndebourne. It’s usually the bit where Donna Anna’s fiancé Don Ottavio suggests that they get married sharpish, and she immediately asks him for a year’s delay. Readers of Middlemarch
TULLY POTTER: Booked for the last four performances of L Elisir d Amore, in the key role of Nemorino, Matteo Desole ended up having to sing all 14 - and scored a triumph on the first night.
Mariame Clément’s thoughtful staging brings depth and insights but feels, at times, at odds with the score’s sensuality and demonic fire. In the pit, conductor Evan Rogister favours speed over dramatic weight.