(Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) Technically classified as an opera buffo, or a comic opera, both Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte formally assigned it on the printed score as a dramma giocoso, which translates literally to “drama with jokes” or “joking drama.” Without giving away the entire plot, “Don Giovanni” tells the dramatic tale of an unrepentant, narcissistic nobleman whose {…}
Opera San José’s 43rd season is set to open with Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The new production of Mozart’s masterwork will examine immorality, accountability, and the inescapable final reckoning that awaits the unrepentant. The cast will include Wm. Clay Thompson in the title role, Maria Brea as Donna Elvira, Jonghyun Park as Don Ottavio, Kenneth Kellogg as the Commendatore. Internationally renowned {…}
(Photo: Roberto Santos-Luy) Having just watched the splendid Irish soprano Amy Ní Fhearraigh, one of Ireland’s rising stars, in her role debut as Donna Anna in Blackwater Valley Opera Festival’s production of “Don Giovanni” as well as being scheduled to review her next role as Cora in the world premiere of Michael Gallen’s award-winning new opera “The Curing Line” at {…}
(Credit: Steven Pisano) It takes a ton of courage to present one of the staples of the opera repertoire and offer a unique take on it, especially when that work is “Don Giovanni.” Mozart and Da Ponte’s dramma giocosa is an emblem of the art form, one of the great operas that has been dissected, reimagined, and directed to death {…}
(Photo: Frances Marshall) There were very few members of the audience who left the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” without a smile on their faces. And why shouldn’t they have? After all, there was plenty to smile about. For this was a no-frills, simple production that presented the well-known narrative for laughs, nothing more. There was {…}
Opera Australia will open its 2026 National Tour with Michael Gow’s production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in South Australia this July. The tour will then take the Mozart opera to Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania, marking the 30th anniversary of the company’s national touring program. The production, which last toured in 2013, will be conducted by Simon Bruckard, who {…}
Benevolence Opera Project and Redwood Theatre will present a one-night-only performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” on Friday, May 22 at 8 p.m. at the Redwood Theatre in Toronto. Canadian baritone Alexander Hajek takes the title role, joined by Luke Noftall as Leporello, James Coole-Stevenson as Masetto, Andrew Tees as Commendatore, Mary Ferrari as Donna Elvira, Cameron Mazzei as Don Ottavio, {…}
(Photo Credit: Octavio Alonso Maya Castro) Visiting the Palacio de Bellas Artes made me fall in love with opera again. The open plaza welcomed groups of young people walking, laughing, and congregating. The bronze-tiled dome gleamed like a radiant sunset, hugging the luminous marble archway. Stepping inside, the grand foyer projected an entirely different regal stature. Whereas the exterior of {…}
(Credit: Martin Sigmund) While the midsize southwestern German city of Stuttgart is not an international operatic centre like Berlin or Munich, it’s nonetheless important to opera’s history. It witnessed the world premieres of three major works: Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos“ (1912); Zemlinsky’s “A Florentine Tragedy” (1917); and Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten” (1984), in addition to several operas by Carl Orff and {…}
(Credit: Gianni Cravedi / Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) The great collector of women arrived in Emilia-Romagna, specifically at the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, before moving on to Modena, as part of a co-production between the two cities’ theaters. The scenic concept was devised by Andrea Bernard. A statement of his opens the program booklet, in which he explains that he has {…}
(Credit: Thomas Mandt) Mozart comes to the German city of Rostock in the 2026 season’s production of “Don Giovanni.” Though the house is no stranger to Mozart, this is an all-new production of his genre-defying classic, and it is a staging full of surprises. Director Daniel Pfluger and Dramaturge Stephan Knies have brought together an interpretation that turns some of {…}
