‘Don Giovanni is pure evil’: Seljan Nasibli on her fascination with Mozart’s opera

Don Giovanni is brutal but funny. It’s tragic-comic. No one other than Mozart can do it so well – opera soprano singer Seljan Nasibli tells Christine Manby

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Growing up in Baku, Azerbaijan, soprano Seljan Nasibli didn’t know much about opera but she was passionate about music from an early age, pestering her parents for piano lessons before she was five. Having mastered the piano, she turned to the violin. It wasn’t until she moved to England at the age of 15 that she discovered her best instrument might actually be her own voice.

“I wanted to sing jazz, but my music teacher told me I had an operatic voice,” she said. “I hadn’t listened to much opera before then. When I told him, my father bought me a series of Naxos CDs. That was the beginning.” Despite buying those CDs, Nasibli’s father was not enamoured with the idea of his daughter pursuing a career in opera.

Although her family had misgivings, Nasibli studied singing at the Royal College of Music, going on to debut at the Carnegie Hall’s Kurt Weill Recital Hall and win the Debut Concert Hamburg International Competition. Then she was offered her first leading role, playing Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with the Westminster Opera Company. Nasibli was 24 years old and she argued with her teacher about whether she was ready for such a big part. Brushing her teacher’s doubts aside, Nasibli joined the company for a summer season at a chateau in the south of France and her fascination with Don Giovanni was born.

Written in 1787, Mozart’s Don Giovanni was inspired by the legend of Don Juan, the notorious fictional womaniser and rake. Set in Seville, the opera opens as masked playboy Giovanni is trying to seduce young noblewoman Donna Anna by pretending to be her fiance. It goes badly and Giovanni flees pursued by Donna Anna’s father, who challenges him to a duel. Donna Anna’s father is killed and she asks her fiancé, Don Ottavio, to avenge him.

We quickly learn that Donna Anna isn’t the only woman Giovanni has wronged. His former lover Donna Elvira is also on his case, having seen the “black book” of names of the many women Giovanni has seduced. She makes it her mission to spread the word, starting by warning Zerlina, a young bride with whom Giovanni is flirting at her own wedding. Giovanni, naturally, suggests Elvira is mad. But hearing Giovanni’s voice at the same event, Donna Anna realises he is her father’s murderer. Soon both Zerlina’s groom and Anna’s fiancé have Giovanni in their sights. Mayhem ensues and by the end of the opera, Donna Anna’s father comes back as a ghost to take Giovanni to hell.

Nasibli says, “Don Giovanni is brutal but funny. It’s tragic-comic. No one other than Mozart can do it so well.”

(Orkhan Aslanov)

Mozart himself described the opera as a “drama giocoso” or “playful drama”. The storyline revolves around murder and rape, but there is humour in the music. And while Don Giovanni is the ultimate bad guy, Mozart makes it easy to see why he’s been such a hit with the ladies.

“Don Giovanni is pure evil,” Nasibli agrees. “For him to take advantage of these woman, their feelings, their bodies and their relationships is pure evil. Womanising is all about power.” But Nasibli’s favourite part of the opera is when Don Giovanni is trying to seduce Donna Elvira and he sings, “Deh vieni alla finestra.” 

“The orchestra is light,” Nasibli explains. “It’s like a song. It’s surprising that such a disgusting man can have such a beautiful song. Bryn Terfel sings it so quietly and intimately. It really speaks to you. You can understand how Don Giovanni is so seductive.”

Donna Anna’s part is really high.  Elvira is more grounded. That represents her character.  She undergoes a lot of changes in the opera

Mozart wanted Giovanni to seduce the audience too, leaving us questioning our judgement. With the beauty of the music, Mozart wrongfoots us, has us laughing along with his anti-hero and leaves us wondering if the women haven’t somehow “asked for” their fate. In the light of the “me too” movement, Don Giovanni shows how easy it has always been to be misled by charisma and status. The themes of sexual inequality and the misuse of power are eternal.

“The characters are very real to me,” says Nasibli. “Raw. Everything is seen from the perspective of the three women.”

During lockdown, Nasibli has returned to Don Giovanni but this time she has been studying the role of Donna Elvira. “Donna Anna’s part is really high. Elvira is more grounded. That represents her character. She undergoes a lot of changes in the opera.”

Nasibli also feels she has grown out of Donna Ana. “Perhaps. I’m getting older, experiencing life more. Friendship and relationships have influenced me in different ways.” She feels she has a better understanding of Elvira’s part as a result.

When Nasibli is learning a new opera, she says she begins at the end. “I start with what has been concluded. It’s easier to understand more acting-wise. It gives me a better idea of why the composer has chosen certain structures and notes, why the music is as it is.” 

This should have been a big year for Nasibli. The pandemic meant that she has missed out on a number of performances. In November, she was supposed to be in St Petersburg. But she has Faust on the horizon for next year, at the Odessa opera. She will be singing Marguerite.

In the meantime, Nasibli has been discovering less well-known operatic heroines. She has recently released an album on Naxos, the label whose recordings introduced her to opera as a teenager. The album is called Femme Fatales: Soprano Heroines from the Orient. Nasibli explains “It’s the stories of women from the East, interpreted by Slavic and Western composers. There are Azerbaijani stories. I’ve been studying my cultural heritage.” Conducted by Yalchin Adigozalov, the album was recorded at the Radio Hall in Kiev. It was a tough experience for the young singer, “Recording is difficult. You have to give a thousand per cent to make sure the character comes out in your voice.”

But with the hard work came another breakthrough. Nasibli’s father attended the recording, coming around to the idea of his daughter the opera singer at last.

As Nasibli said, “I think if my father hadn’t been against my operatic career, maybe I wouldn’t have known how much I wanted my career and needed the music. I always thank him for the challenge.”