La ci darem la mano (There we will entwine our hands) from Mozart's Don Giovanni --

Here's the version I like best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymBPo0AJ-2Y

Note the soprano (Christine Schafer's) uncertain and nervous white left land on her red dress, and the male lead's expression, suitable to how a practiced seducer might look.

I watched the next version first, but like it a lot less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEDnmGnYb6I

And here is the reason why:

In this version, it's the woman who is having to "act up" to the man, who is as expressionless and wooden as a mafia godfather.

As the roles are reversed in this staging, it feels terribly forced and unnatural, goes against the grain of the story and the lyrics and music and is more like "Romancing the Stone" than as Don Giovanni attempting to seduce Zerlina. And succeeding at the end.

(What a relief to blog about something other than Burma.)

Copyright Kyi May Kaung