The Giacomo Variations is the latest collaboration between John Malkovich, Michael Sturminger, Martin Haselböck and, posthumously, W.A. Mozart.  In that respect it has much in common with The Infernal Comedy.  In other respects, not so much. It’s just wound up a six performance visit to Montreal and Toronto and last night I caught the final performance at the Elgin Theatre.

The concept is that we are seeing Giacomo Casanova (played of course by Malkovich), near the end of his life, looking back on his life and loves and, perhaps, trying to extract some meaning from it all. His foil/nemesis is Elisa, played by Ingeborga Dapkünaité, who is after his memoirs for publication or as the basis for a scathing and salacious biography.  They are doubled by a baritone and a soprano; last night Simon Schnorr and Sophie Klussman.  They do the bulk of the singing though the ladies of the orchestra also make a contribution and Malkovich and Dapkünaité also do some singing, most notably Malkovich’s singing the final solo of Deh, vieni alla finestra.  He made the right choice in not opting for the opera as a career but it’s surprisingly touching.

There really isn’t a linear narrative.  It’s more like a series of sketches; sometimes touching, sometimes funny, often quite bawdy.  A good example would be the scene where the two singers are doing the “little hat” duet from Nozze while energetically performing in bed as Malkovich hands them ever larger condoms.  There’s lots of undressing and emerging from under skirts (the set itself consists of three giant crinolines) and a bit of an air of a lagubrious Benny Hill meets Mozart.  It’s a bit thin dramatically but it’s given a thoroughly committed and excellent performance from the two actors well backed up by the young singers who are both skilled in that department.  The drama is supplemented by 21 excerpts from the Da Ponte operas or orchestral works generally well performed by the singers and the Orchester Wiener Akademie under Haselböck.

Does Casanova make sense of his life?  Not really.  Did I make sense of The Giacome Variations?  Not really.  It had the air of being unfinished or of a fringe festival piece.  Still, it was enjoyable enough and it got a very enthusiastic reception from a fairly full house.