A controversy was brewing, surrounding the dismissal of Hope Briggs, who was originally scheduled to sing Donna Anna, and her replacement with Elza Van Den Heever, in the new SF Opera production of Don Giovanni, which kicked off the summer season on Saturday night. The explanation for the switch from the upper floors of the opera house was rather laconic, which left the door open to wild speculations.

Was it, as this Berkely Daily Planet op-ed conjectured, due to the new media suite, which will record every performance on high definition from this Don Giovanni on and thus will put some demand on the singers to look good, conjectures the writer? And wouldn’t anyone from Texas (SF Opera's general director David Gockley's previous job was in Houston) consider a white woman such as Elza Van Den Heever better looking than a black woman such as Hope Briggs, asks the op-ed writer? The wild, unsubstantiated conspiracy theory says more about the person making those connections that it does about the process inside the opera house, but nonetheless, even the NY Times jumped in the debate!

Race most likely did not play a role, but still one consequence of the switch was to cancel an African-American community outreach event, which is still a slap in the face and a tough situation for the PR to handle. Is Al Sharpton flying into town soon?

Yet last night performed slammed shut the questioning and finger pointing and Monday quarterbacking of the move: while Hope Briggs performed quite expertly a few excerpts of her part in Dolores Park a week ago, Elza Van Den Heever was a revelation last night. She had all the qualities of a major star: range, power at the top, yet the required Mozartian agility in the more challenging parts. She would reveal the high notes, clear and fully formed, hit them straight on the mark, confidently, when so many singers get to a nearby approximate spot and slide to the right tone.

Pictures of Mariusz Kwiecien by Terrence McCarthy and Elza Van Den Heever (with Charles Castronovo) by John Lee, courtesy of SF Opera. The second picture was actually taken during Saturday's first act. Short of taking you with us, you cannot get any closer!

Her first few arias, a fight with Don Giovanni, and then the discovery of the death of her father, were chillingly impressive, both in the musical accuracy and in the emotional portrayal. This was as raw a Donna Anna as any, and she totally succeeded in captivating the audience. There was not a naysayer after the performance. She will be huge (we hope we can simply call here VDH then, that will make our life simpler).

The only thing that prevented her from stealing the show was another sublime performance by Mariusz Kwiecien as Don Giovanni. This particular production (a joint production with Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels) is a goth staging, all dressed up in blacks and cemetaries and skulls and exposed bones underneath the stage. It’s more suited for the Halloween season than the summer program. It goes all the way into the darkness of the material, making most of the macabre side to the music and the libretto. And Kwiecien is the perfect Don Giovanni for this environment: he looks good enough to be convincing as a seducer, but as a diabolic one, with streaks of violence and rage.

His baritone voice suited the noir atmosphere well: strong, charismatic, with dark undertones and threatening hints. Kwiecien’s rendition of the seduction songs (La Ci Darem La Mano or the serenade to Dona Elvira’s maid for instance) had a tone of impatience and frustration and contained anger to them, as if this Don Giovanni could not be bothered with these silly preliminaries. As with Donna Anna, the acting matched the singing, even if we sometime felt he had watched too much Jack Nicholson to prep for the role.

Oren Gradus, as Leporello, offered his own superlative performance as well, solid throughout with the occasional comic relief perfectly timed. Claudia Mahnke, adorned with a wig that did not do her any favor, nonetheless sung a delightfull perky Zerlina. Kristinn Sigmundsson should be given an honorary Adler fellowship, he keeps recurring in small-yet-important parts this season: King Mark in Tristan & Isolde, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and now the Commendatore, in a frightening fight scene between the ghost and Don Giovanni. We still have goose bumps from it.

The night would have been perfect with a slightly more assertive Charles Castronovo, as Donna Anna’s lover, Don Ottavio, and a Donna Elivra who matched the intensity of Donna Anna. Twyla Robinson, as Elvira, did not demerit, but had the tough duty of entering stage after Elza’s mind blowing first arias, and we’ll had VDH to puppies and kids to the list of tough acts to follow.

Runnicles at the helm, played out the music for all it the sinister, grand guignol, macabre it has. There are more easy-to-the-ear interpretations of Don Giovanni, but this one was beautifully oppressive and relentless. Except for an opening that we found a tad rushed, the orchestra gave a purposefull, masterfull performance.

Don Giovanni
War Memorial Opera House
Box Office: 864-3330
Performances: Tue. June 5, 8 pm, Sun. June 10, 2 pm, Wed. June 13, 7:30 pm, Sat. June 16, 8 pm, Fri. June 22, 8 pm, Thu. June 28, 7:30 pm, Sat. June 30, 8 pm.