Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- A lively new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” opened at the New York City Opera yesterday afternoon starring Daniel Okulitch as the legendary sex maniac.

Staged by Christopher Alden, the show begins in a bare chapel with a white neon crucifix. Clad in formal suits, ties, and hats from the early part of the 20th century, villagers are ranged in a double row of chairs. An elegant masked Don Giovanni sits apart. We are most definitely not in 17th-century Seville.

There’s nothing surprising about any of this of course. Don Giovanni is updated all the time. Only a radical nut would set the story of the Spanish lothario in the time Mozart envisioned.

But Alden’s concept brings out the violence, sex, alienation and fear of dying that seethe at the heart of the story and which do not need any particular style of costume.

The simple set features a green and gray checkerboard floor, five electric fixtures and not much else, and strikes me as ideal for an impecunious company. It can’t have cost much, but it looks smart, not cheap.

Alden gets our attention immediately. Donna Anna is quickly seduced and winds up in full sexual flight on the floor with Giovanni, and it’s shocking when in a single motion he fatally bashes her father’s head against the wall, leaving bright bloody stains that haunt the rest of the action.

Chaos Rules

In Act II the confined location becomes more of a hindrance and the stage business grows increasingly chaotic and confusing. Why is Donna Elvira at a formal wake dressed in Frederick’s of Hollywood? Is the dead Commendatore visible or invisible? And the Don’s ultimate end provokes more mirth than horror.

Above all, the cast was outstanding, young, attractive and in splendid voice. Okulitch was a menacingly sexy Don, with Jason Hardy a nimble, charming Leporello, who got a big hand when he balanced a chair on his chin.

All the women soared through their demanding roles, especially Stefania Dovhan as a vocally sure Donna Anna. Keri Alkema was a sympathetic Elvira and Joelle Harvey a sweet yet seductive Zerlina.

Okulitch and Hardy spent a good part of the second act nearly naked -- another cost saving measure? There are not many productions where this is a welcome option.

Conductor Gary Thor Wedow provided support without overpowering any of the singers.

Scattered booing greeted the production team, a tradition that seems to be gaining ground in New York, but energetic cheering far outweighed any negative votes.

‘Esther’

The previous night, the company offered “Esther” -- Hugo Weisgall’s modernist ode to the Biblical heroine -- in its newly refurbished home, the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

The last time the company had performed here, the place was still called the New York State Theater.

Afflicted by management problems, City Opera fell silent last season except for a few peeps in out of the way places.

Go, if only to look inside: There are plenty of tickets available judging from the company’s interactive Web site. Across all performances of “Esther,” about a third are still unsold.

Somebody should compose a hymn to oil and gas billionaire Koch, who gave $100 million to renovate the chilly, unwelcoming theater designed by Philip Johnson. Downstairs, seats were ripped out to provide aisles and a larger pit. Plush red seats are another improvement, though there is way too much drab brown paint everywhere.

Weisgall (1912-1997), a prominent fixture of New York music life, wrote in a Schoenberg-light atonal style that is now so out of fashion, I briefly sank into my seat enjoying the memories it brought up of a time when melody was a crime.

No Puccini

“Esther” failed to charm the audience back in 1993, though a few critics welcomed it as a stern antidote to say Puccini, that audience toady. The opera sank from view. The company briefly pondered reviving it under its last general director, Paul Kellogg, who sensibly thought better of it.

It’s a dramatic story, badly told: Esther turns the tables on the evil Haman, who plots to murder all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia. But the unvarying musical texture creates a kind of lethargy as block-like chords dominate the entire opera. There are only a few moments of relief in some exposed melodic lines.

It’s exhausting and after a while it all sounds the same: “I love you” is indistinguishable from “I want to kill you.” Sure. Whatever. The most affecting moments are provided by the chorus singing about the long suffering of the Jews.

Lauren Flanigan, a beloved fixture of the company who sang Esther in 1993, now reappeared, making her entrance in a modest non-descript gown before trading up to sexier, more diaphanous outfits as the queen. The role suits her voice, and aside from some ragged top notes, she was in her element.

Dramatic Flair

Roy Cornelius Smith was a robust Haman, his voice easily projecting beyond the stage, though baritone James Maddalena, as Mordecai, was barely audible at times.

Christopher Mattaliano, who directed the premiere, presided over what often resembled a high school pageant. When Esther reveals to husband, King Xerxes, that she is a Jewess, Stephen Kechulius grabbed his belly and took a giant step backward in bewildered consternation.

Designer Jerome Sirlin hasn’t given poor Xerxes much of a kingdom: Aside from a throne or a chair, stage sets are replaced by uninspired projections suggesting ancient Persia. In the only moment with dramatic flair, we literally see the writing on the wall.

Gaudy Costumes

Everyone wears all-too-new costumes, gaudy, cheap, ill- fitting, and at times, funny. Xerxes lies around moaning a lot, and with those outfits, who could blame him? When he’s not sporting a billowing orange cape, a pale rayon-like top etches the outlines of his protruding stomach. He could also use a new barber.

Haman wears a lot of poisonous green with bling, while the rest of the court sports bright red tunics with gold ribbon and silly headgear. No one ever wore clothes like this.

And why wasn’t that pointless ballet cut?

At the end, conductor George Manahan was the only one singled out for well-deserved bravos, having coolly shepherded his forces through a difficult score in which the brasses were especially fine. A few people stood to applaud, but this was not a night of wild cheering and paper throwing.

In the spring, the company returns for a mere 22 performances. You do wonder why during the year of silence the company couldn’t plan a little better. (The Metropolitan Opera next door plays 225 performances this season).

Begging Bowls

Still, the holiday interlude should give the board plenty of time to put on some hair shirts and pick up the begging bowls to fill the company’s coffers.

Happily, a gala on Thursday raised a heartening $2.3 million, according to the company web site. No doubt the number caught the attention of artist union AGMA, which is trying to extract payment for some 50 contracts issued during the brief time when the company had hitched itself to whimsical opera manager Gerard Mortier.

For more information: http://www.nycopera.com.

(Zinta Lundborg is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Zinta Lundborg in New York zlundborg@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 12:31 EST