大象传媒

Without question, the most tormented character onstage in Don Giovanni is Donna Anna. In the opening scene she flees from a sexual assault by a masked intruder only to witness her father鈥檚 brutal murder. Yet Donna Anna is much more than a grieving victim 鈥� she is a woman propelled by pain, desperate to find her father鈥檚 killer and intent on vengeance.

Throughout the opera, we experience all these extremes of emotion with her, though sometimes her feelings are so intense, they even surpass words, which means Donna Anna epitomises the coloratura soprano.

In Italian, the word means 鈥渃olouring鈥�, whilst in opera, it refers to highly-elaborate passages in which a singer uses their voice more like an orchestral instrument: words appear to be the least important feature in this virtuosic style of singing (in fact they mainly indiscernible) so instead, coloratura presents a spectacular showcase for the power, flexibility, and stamina of the human voice.

Extract from Glyndebourne's adaptation of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Analysis by Paul Rissmann.

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