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A very good production of "Don Giovanni." The students did a wonderful job with all aspects of the production: sets, costumes, lighting, etc. Very impressed with the quality of the singers. Special kudos to Joshua Guerrero, Gregorio Gonzalez and Vanessa Vasquez.
This is exceptional professionalism beyond so many others. Fabulous sets, music, song dance, and artistry. Don't miss it!
The UCLA philarmonia and the UCLA opera consist of advanced students. Knowing this I went with the expectation that we should be a sympathetic audience and cut them some slack. Not necessary. This was a very professional performance with high quality voices and an excellent orchestra. The acting was superb, the singing as well, although some voices still need to gain volume. The stage setting was smartly done. The only thing that didn't go perfect was here and there the timing between orchestra and singers. All in all I had an amazing evening.
Do not expect a "College Performance" when you attend this creative version of Don Giovanni. The program was exceptional and would be successful on any stage. We attended Friday night - their opening performance. I was taken by the quality of the voices and the creative staging. Done in a contemporatry style it was a believable and engaging performance by all.
My significant other wanted to go to an opera, stating that they had never been. I had been to an opera years ago. We had a great time! There was a lot of humor in this opera making it a great experience for getting the idea of an Opera as well and having a good laugh. The actors did an amazing job with facial expressions and body language!! Loved it!!!
Don Giovanni was wonderfully performed. The orchestra provided a fabulous accompaniment to the beautiful voices. My only criticism would be the stark lack of scenery.
I want more for $110.00 per ticket. Let me explain. DISCLAIMER: This review is not intended to reflect on the singers or musicians. They were fine. THE STAGE:I think the stage was shrouded in darkness not to convey the "dark humor" but to mask the unbelievably shoddy set. What there was on stage (I really can't call it a set) was a poorly assembled pile of battered and worn platforms that leaked light where it wasn't supposed to (when Don G should have gone to hell but instead just laid on the stage, but that's another complaint). THE LIGHTS: I assume the lack of lighting was to enable the projection of images onto strips of cheap muslin that decended and rose to suggest different locations. I wasn't there to see the muslin, I wanted to see the singers. The only lighting effect that might have worked was the "Hell Scene", but the red back-lighting leaked out from between the cracks in the pile of platforms and that was distracting. THE STAGE DIRECTION: I'm at a complete loss to explain why the stage director (not the Maestro) had the performers singing with their backs to the audience. The biggest question is why he chose to allow Don G. to remain on stage rather than desending to hell as Mozart intended. I have read about the lack of a trapdoor in the stage but the action was taking place on a pile of platforms, it seems he could have exited the pile over the back edge. THE COSTUMES: Any good costume designer, working with a competent props-master should have been able to deliver an animated statue better than the mess we saw. The rest of the costumes appeared to have been collected from a variety of sources. They did not complement each other and appeared to have been drawn from a variety of time periods. The animated statue appeaded to me to be wearing a large inverted vinyl bucket. MY CONSENSUS: If music is all I am getting I will buy the CD.
It was a great show, very god talent and the live music was also amazing. I thoroughly recommend it, the opera is nice and light, with some humor, and as I said before, decent talent.
This was a very entertaining story and the performers were amazing. The singing was great! The sets were very minimal compared to a "broadway style" show, but the voices and humor of the show made you forget about sets. The show is quite long, but overall we had a great time!
The opera was wonderful. Out of the main characters I was least impressed with Don Giovanni sadly, but the talent was wonderful. The set was a bit lacking, I would have liked to see it much more elaborate. At times it was tough to tell where the characters were supposed to be as the stage never changed. Other than that, the performance and the venue are wonderful!
I thought things got off to a rough start. People will still coming in after the start of the opera requiring getting up and down. It was noisy due to this. There were at least 5-6 people in our row who were late plus several in the rows in front of us. Doors were noisy. It was annoying when trying to watch and listen. The music was great! Enjoyed the text on the screen.
The Devos place is always a good place to watch a show and Don Giovanni did not disappoint. A good performance by all the performers and just an enjoyable experience all around.
Enjoyed my first Opera... The pre lecture helped to understand & timing/history of the Opera. Singing was strong.
We enjoyed the music but felt the choreography needed some professional help. The movement on stage at times seemed almost spastic.
Excellent pageantry, wonderful voices by the principals which were cast well. Chorus held up is end with good choreography and blended singing. Costumes were spot on for the time period. To stay on budget, not much spent on the stage itself as all the scenery was spartan, but adequate. The last point is the only difference I see from more elaborate productions I've seen at the Wharton Center. Orchestra performed flawlessly, although a bit muted in the pit, but not much can be done about that. The choice to use a reverberations on the commodatorre was a little disappointing, just a very strong clear baritone would have sent a better message, in my opinion.
Amazing singers and players, marvelous orchestra and wonderful Venue!
It's hard to enjoy a long opera, no matter how great it is, if you're crammed into a box seat that had more chairs than space. The box could have comfortably seated 4 people, but the Lyric had 8 seats in the box. It was impossible! I'm a small person, but had to sit sideways on the chair to find a space for my legs. Then I had to twist my body 90 degrees so I could see the superscript above the stage. I thought the opera was well performed.
fantastic performance and ambiance superb music and singing
Don Giovanni was even better than I had hoped. The quality of the voices, the precision of the orchestra, the elaborate set all made for a festive and unforgettable evening. I especially appreciated that this interpretation of Mozart's opera stayed true to the time period, the script, and the music.
No expert but I thought other singer had better voice than lead and got larger applause. a little strange but play was well done and costumes and scenery was excellent. ending was slightly different than Don Giovanni I saw in Ann Arbor couple of years ago.
