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Don Giovanni faces leaden seriousness at National Opera

For a dramma giocoso, there was precious little to laugh at during a performance of Don Giovanni by De Nationale Opera on Tuesday 10 May. This production taken over from the Salzburg Festival is weighed down by a leaden seriousness, which is reinforced by the turbo-Mozart presented to us by conductor Marc Albrecht and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Despite its often punishing tempi, the performance lacks any momentum, especially as singers and orchestra - and the musicians among themselves - are audi...

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Thea Derks

Thea Derks studied English and Musicology. In 1996, she completed her studies in musicology cum laude at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in contemporary music and in 2014 published the critically acclaimed biography 'Reinbert de Leeuw: man or melody'. Four years on, she completed 'An ox on the roof: modern music in vogevlucht', aimed especially at the interested layperson. You buy it here: https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/een-os-op-het-dak/9789012345675 In 2020, the 3rd edition of the Reinbertbio appeared,with 2 additional chapters describing the period 2014-2020. These also appeared separately as Final Chord.View Author posts

For a dramma giocoso, there was precious little to laugh at during a performance of Don Giovanni by De Nationale Opera on Tuesday 10 May. This production taken over from the Salzburg Festival is weighed down by a leaden seriousness, which is reinforced by the turbo-Mozart presented to us by conductor Marc Albrecht and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Despite its often punishing tempi, the performance lacks any momentum, especially as singers and orchestra - and the musicians among themselves - are audi...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

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