Presentation of Joseph Losey's opera/movie, with Ruggero Raimondi, Teresa Berganza, Kiri Te Kanawa, Josè Van Dam, John Macurdy.
XV Italian Language Week in the World: The Italian of the Music, the Music of the Italian.
XV Italian Language Week in the World: The Italian of the Music, the Music of the ItalianUnder the High Patronage of the President of the Italian RepublicDON GIOVANNI (1979)Presentation of Joseph Losey's opera/movie, with Ruggero Raimondi, Teresa Berganza, Kiri Te Kanawa, Josè Van Dam, John Macurdy. Presents Maurizio Dessalvi, director of the IIC in Haifa.There was a time when films of opera were very pedestrian affairs; largely speaking, a camera was pointed at a proscenium arch and well upholstered singers were pretty well left to get on with it. All that changed with two filmed operas: Ingmar Bergman's beguiling film of Mozart's Magic Flute, and Joseph Losey's radical and beautiful take on another Mozart masterpiece, Don Giovanni. Of the two, the Losey is by far the more cinematic experience. The director took his singers out of the opera house and filmed them against a variety of striking settings. The sense of movement imparted by Losey would only work with singers who could move convincingly – and who were moreover, sufficiently skilled actors to realise the often complex revisionism of Losey's approach. Here, the director was particularly lucky in having Ruggero Raimondi as the concupiscent Don; as well as being a great interpreter of the role, Raimondi is able to embody the conflict between the aristocratic and anti-authoritarian strains in this conflicted character – and admirers of Losey will spot familiar notions of betrayal and trust, along with the difficult relationship with father figures that is such a recurrent strain in his work. Losey was similarly lucky in the female singers he was able to work with: Kiri Te Kanawa is radiant as Donna, conveying a psychological depth to the character even at this relatively early stage of her career. On the other hand, Teresa Berganza, who seems too matronly for the girlishly seductive Zerlina, nevertheless boasts one of the most exquisite soprano voices in opera. ( MovieMail)Event in Italian.Tuesday, October 27th, at 18:30Italian Cultural Instituterehov Meir Rutberg 12 – HaifaFREE ADMISSION