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Opera
Don Giovanni
"It is the world's greatest opera and the world's greatest parody of opera," wrote Virgil Thomson of Mozart's 1787 masterpiece, and it's easy to imagine him and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte sharing a giggle over the conventions they upended, providing a heroine, Donna Anna, who is at best manipulative and at worst an out-and-out liar; a boob of a hero, Don Ottavio, a notoriously difficult role to make likable; Donna Elvira, another wronged woman, who offers shrewd sopranos rich possibilities for crossing the comic/tragic boundary; and, of course, the title character, a charming cad who dominates the action even though he has relatively few solo turns (nothing like the showpiece arias Mozart wrote for the divas). Throw in a buffo sidekick, two party scenes, a statue coming to life, a chorus of peasants, and a score that brings all these potentially stock characters to throbbing life, and you've got something pretty close to an embodiment of another Thomson dictum: "The ideal opera contains one of everything." Mariusz Kwiecien and Morgan Smith share the title role in Seattle Opera's production, which opens tonight; Andreas Mitisek conducts. In Italian with English supertitles. Pictured is Marie-Therese Cramer's costume sketch for Anna's dramatic Act I post-seduction entrance. Seattle Opera at McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 389-7676, www.seattleopera.org. $43–$141. 7:30 p.m. Ends Jan. 27; see Web site for schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT
Art Exhibit
Western Bridge: Christian Marclay and Kit Bashing
Western Bridge promises a great new show, with a 40-foot, four-channel video installation, Video Quartet by Christian Marclay, as the focal point. Shown at the Tate Modern, it has been called a jaw-dropping piece of experimental music. Kit Bashing features a selection of "interventions and appropriations" with work by Gretchen Bennett, Steven Brekelmans, Ryan Gander, Paul Morrison, Carsten Höller, Steve Roden, and Ben Rubin. A few tantalizing tidbits: Höller's Birds documents 10 new species of cross-bred birds in photogravure. Venturing into the apartment bedroom (upstairs), you'll feel deliciously like a voyeur, enjoying Rubin's 12-screen loop of dreams, The Quiet Ticking of Dreams, which incorporates text from dream chat rooms. Roden's sound installation possesses a decidedly space-based focus: exploring John Glenn's orbit of the Earth, using the noises of collected satellite transmissions. Western Bridge, 3412 Fourth Ave. S., 838-7444, www.western bridge.org. Free. Opens today, noon–6 p.m. Gallery hours: noon–6 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends May 5. ADRIANA GRANT
