Don Giovanni Archives - North West End UK

Don Giovanni – The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

22May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Don Giovanni – The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

Mozart’s retelling of the Don Juan myth dates from 1787 and its tale of a serial, sexual predator sadly remains far too relevant some 235 years later. Don Giovanni (Peter Mattei) has seduced some 1,800 women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (Adam Plachetka), and he is looking to add another name with his attempted rape of Donna Anna (Federica Lombardi) that results in him killing her father, the Commendatore (Alexander Tsymbalyuk), and which her fiancé Don Ottavio (Ben Bliss) swears to revenge. Donna Elvira (Ana Maria Martinez), an earlier conquest, has come in search of Don Giovanni, although he is now trying to seduce peasant girl Zerlina (Ying Fang) on her wedding day to Masetto (Alfred Walker) and later attempts to rape her at his party. The next day, Giovanni forces Lepo...

Don Giovanni – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

‘Hurry hurry’ one character sings to another. ‘I can’t’ the other character replies. This is Mozart after all and the composer has never been known to keep things short and to the point. Don Giovanni doesn’t drag like the final acts of Figaro, but you do have to buckle yourself in for a lengthy ride. For those who don’t know the storyline of one of the greatest operas in the canon, the titular character of the opera, Don Giovanni, is more than just a philandering womanizing rake. He’s a liar, a rapist and a murderer. This is all apparent in the first 10 minutes when he’s already a committed a murder. As the opera progresses there are a series of characters baying for his blood, all wronged by his actions. When it seems he has achieved the impossible and dodged his demise he meets his e...

Don Giovanni –Liverpool Empire

Welsh National Opera return to Liverpool Empire with this revival by Caroline Chaney of John Caird’s 2011 production of one of Mozart’s most complete operas, and incorporating John Napier’s original brutalist staging, inspired apparently by Rodin’s The Gates of Hell. Don Giovanni (Aaron O’Hare – a last-minute replacement due to cast indisposition) has seduced over 2,000 women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (Joshua Bloom), and our story starts with him looking to add another name with his attempted rape of Donna Anna (Linda Richardson) that results in him killing her father, the Commendatore (James Platt), and which her fiancé Don Ottavio (Trystan Llŷr Griffiths) swears to revenge. Donna Elvira (Meeta Raval), an earlier conquest who believes Giovanni to be her husband, has come...