Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) Don Giovanni
Dramma giocoso in two acts KV 527
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
Created on 29th October 1787 at the Prague National Theater
| Musical direction | Marc Minkowski |
| Stage direction and set design | Dmitri Tcherniakov |
| Costumes | Dmitri Tcherniakov and Elena Zaytseva |
| Light | Gleb Filshtinsky |
| Don Giovanni | Rod Gilfry |
| Leporello | Kyle Ketelsen |
| Donna Anna | Maria Bengtsson |
| Don Ottavio | Paul Groves |
| Donna Elvira | Sonya Yoncheva* |
| Zerlina | Joelle Harvey* |
| Masetto | Kostas Smoriginas |
| Il Commendatore | Anatoli Kotscherga |
| Chorus | Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir |
| Orchestra | London Symphony Orchestra |
Production / Coproduction
2010 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence production
In coproduction with the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto
2010 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence production
In coproduction with the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto
Trembling under her veils, chaste and thin Elvira,
Near the perfidious husband who had been her lover,
Seemed to claim from him one last smile
Where the sweetness of his first vows would shine forth.
Near the perfidious husband who had been her lover,
Seemed to claim from him one last smile
Where the sweetness of his first vows would shine forth.
Upright in his armour, a tall man of stone
Stood at the helm and cleft the dark waves;
But the calm hero, leaning on his sword,
Looked at the wake and not deign to see anything else.
Baudelaire, Don Juan in Hell, in Flowers of Evil and other works, edited and translated by Wallace Fowlie (New York: Bantam Books, [1857] 1964)
In no other opera than Don Giovanni are laughter and fear so inextricably bound. The Don Juan myth has taken many forms; yet Mozart’s opera offers a version that is no doubt the lushest, richest in contrasts, and also the most startling. The very overture of the dramma giocoso where the frightening grandeur of the infernal music mutates into a frenzied pursuit, sets the tone: boosted by his thousand and three conquest, Don Giovanni is dancing on the verge of an abyss. Don Giovanni’s mad chase will only be put to an end when a stone statue invites him to a feast where no earthly foods are served. More than two centuries after its creation, the emotional pull of this supreme opera remains absolutely intact.
Stood at the helm and cleft the dark waves;
But the calm hero, leaning on his sword,
Looked at the wake and not deign to see anything else.
Baudelaire, Don Juan in Hell, in Flowers of Evil and other works, edited and translated by Wallace Fowlie (New York: Bantam Books, [1857] 1964)
In no other opera than Don Giovanni are laughter and fear so inextricably bound. The Don Juan myth has taken many forms; yet Mozart’s opera offers a version that is no doubt the lushest, richest in contrasts, and also the most startling. The very overture of the dramma giocoso where the frightening grandeur of the infernal music mutates into a frenzied pursuit, sets the tone: boosted by his thousand and three conquest, Don Giovanni is dancing on the verge of an abyss. Don Giovanni’s mad chase will only be put to an end when a stone statue invites him to a feast where no earthly foods are served. More than two centuries after its creation, the emotional pull of this supreme opera remains absolutely intact.
Dmitri Therniakov duly revisits the myth and makes the seducer of Seville a ‘man without qualities’, a cipher whose words have a hypnotic power over women. His words will disrupt the proprieties ruling the Commandatore’s family. His words are also what makes Don Juan such a subversive figure and the embodiment of one of the most powerful modern European myths. Words are music to opera and Marc Minkowski will most surely unfold all the seductions of Mozart’s spellbinding music, a masterpiece which he will be conducting for the first time.
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Information
Venue
Dates
On 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 23 July 2013 at 9:30pm
Prices
Prices:240€, 190€, 110€, 55€ and 30€
Youth prices: 15 €
Performance available within the package
Children discovery offer on 18 and 23 July.
More prices detailsMore information on the packages
3h30 interval included
Performance in Italian with French and English surtitles
Radio broadcast
Live broadcast on 15 July on France Musique.
