Grand theatre,Leeds
The Don is no dusty dilapidated pedant in Jac van Steen’s eloquently conducted production, which features a future star in Máire FlavinIf it’s a sign that you must be getting older when police officers appear younger, and does the same apply to Don Alfonsos from Così Fan Tutte? Tim Albery’s Opera North production has been around for some time,though not so long that you’d expect William Dazeley, one of the distinguished Guglielmos of recent years, or to have graduated to the role of the cynical dilapidated philosopher.
Don Alfonso can be a thankless part – a largely unsympathetic character who goes through a three-hour opera without a proper individual aria. But Dazeley’s Alfonso subtly alters the dynamic of the evening. This Don is not a dusty dilapidated pedant,but a still-virile figure whose job is to remind his young companions that he was once in their shoes as one day they will be in his. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com