A man looking through a skeleton eye hole.

Don Giovanni

5 January - 17 February 2023

In the Joan Sutherland Theatre

Opera Australia

Opera

This production of the Mozart opera reveals the darkness in opera’s most compelling anti-hero.

Mozart’s classic has traditionally proved thorny to stage. This is a highly sophisticated take.

The Guardian

He’s mad. He’s bad. He’s dangerous.

It’s the last day of Don Giovanni’s life, but he doesn’t know that.

For opera’s own Casanova, it’s just another day of pleasure-seeking. Seducing a bride on her wedding day. Breaking into a woman’s bedroom in the dead of night. Killing her furious father.

Even before the curtain rises, Mozart reveals Don Giovanni’s fate. An earth-shattering chord from the orchestra signals the gates of hell clanging open. The scoundrel’s debauched days are at an end.

When he hears a voice from beyond the grave, warning of impending punishment, Don Giovanni has no fear. Half-mocking, half-earnest, he invites the statue of the man he’s just killed to dinner.

Sir David McVicar’s production reveals the darkness in opera’s most compelling anti-hero. His Don Giovanni is a psychological thriller on a grand scale.

Monumental sets place the story in a gothic underworld inspired by the catacombs of Vienna. Monochromatic period costumes feature stunning embroidery. Can the characters keep their morals as tightly buttoned? 

This production contains simulated sex scenes and depictions of sexual violence.

Presented by Opera Australia

Trailer

Artist Information

CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor 
Guillaume Tourniaire (Jan 5-25), Paul Fitzsimon (Jan 28-Feb 17)
Director David McVicar
Revival Director Warwick Doddrell
Set & Costume Designer Robert Jones
Lighting Designer David Finn
Choreographer Andrew George

CAST
Don Giovanni 
Andrei Kymach
Leporello Yuri Kissin
Donna Anna Sophie Salvesani (Jan 5-25), Celeste Lazarenko (Jan 28-Feb 17)
Donna Elvira Bronwyn Douglass (Jan 5-25), Jane Ede (Jan 28-Feb 17)
Don Ottavio Juan de Dios Mateos
Zerlina Cathy-Di Zhang
Masetto Andrew Williams
Commendatore David Parkin

Opera Australia Chorus
Opera Australia Orchestra

Other information

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