Mozart : Don Giovanni

The opera of operas?

Don Giovanni was commissioned by the Prague Opera immediately after the success of The Marriage of Figaro: Mozart and Da Ponte wanted to build on their success and chose a subject that had triumphed just a few weeks earlier in Venice, a Don Giovanni composed by Giuseppe Gazzaniga.  Revisiting the theme of the Seville Cheat – a prevalent subject in theatre since the mid-17th century, especially through Molière’s powerful incarnation, and in a ballet by Gluck in Vienna in 1761 – Da Ponte focused the work on the libertine character of Don Juan, no doubt drawing inspiration from his friend Casanova (who in fact helped make changes to Act 2, Scene 9, and attended the Prague première). The result is dazzling: the audience is never granted even the slightest respite between murders, scenes of seduction, devious scheming and fantastical apparitions; a great spectacle that bears the musical influence of Gluck at his best, with an urgency and violence unheard of in opera buffa, elevated by extraordinary music. An absolute masterpiece and an utter triumph in Prague! The piece was played everywhere, and the impressive finale in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent and plungers into the underworld remains one of the most powerful moments in the lyric arts.

Marshall Pynkoski transports the characters through dramatic turmoil, embellished by the fantastical costumes by Christian Lacroix; Robert Gleadow finally takes on the role of Don Giovanni, and Gaétan Jarry makes the Orchestra of the Opéra Royal truly shine. 

The Royal Opera Productions/ Palace of Versailles Shows

This show is supported by the Françoise Kahn-Hamm Endowment Fund

The Centre for Baroque Music in Versailles is making available its collection of sets designed by Antoine Fontaine.