Organization

Conductor

Marc Minkowski

Stage director

Ivan Alexandre

Lighting designer

Set designer

Antoine Fontaine

Costume designer

Singer

Baritone

Alexandre Duhamel

Don Giovanni

Bass

Robert Gleadow

Leporello

Soprano

Ana Maria Labin

Donna Anna

Arianna Vendittelli

Donna Elvira

Alix Le Saux

Zerlina

Alex Rosen

Masetto

Commendatore

Tenor

Julien Henric

Don Ottavio

Gran Teatre del Liceu

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Opéra National de Bordeaux

Opéra Royal de Versailles

Drottningholms Slottsteater

Orchestra

Italian

Versailles

France

Opéra Royal

Don Giovanni Mozart

Public

Private

French

English

Approved

Drama giocoso in two acts on a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte after Giovanni Bertati, premiered in Prague in 1787.

It is perhaps, with Wagner's Tetralogy, the most famous cycle of lyrical art: between 1786 and 1790, Mozart and Da Ponte signed their famous Trilogy comprising three major operas, The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), then Così fan tutte (1790). In truth, in the vast production of Mozart, these three works are perhaps the most accomplished, thanks to the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. The latter, who had become a must in Vienna, brought Mozart not only a guarantee of success, but also librettos tailored to the composer's genius. Because the music is festive, the three works never leaving the listener any respite, linking situations, arias, duets and sumptuous ensembles.
Their points in common are very powerful: here are three Italian operas, in the buffa style, three “drama giocoso”, intended for the troupe of the Vienna Opera; each presents the action collected over a single day, a guarantee of urgency and brilliance; the French influence is evident everywhere: Figaro inspired by Beaumarchais, Don Giovanni taking up the rebellious and flamboyant character illustrated by Molière, and Così in a style taken from Marivaux and the French comic opera acclaimed in Vienna. Finally, it is the spirit of freedom that unites these three works and still speaks to us today, when in its time it was particularly daring. Libertines, the heroes of the Trilogy certainly are: in politics for Figaro who, like Beaumarchais, breaks down social barriers and leads the way,
Don Giovanni was commissioned by the Prague Opera immediately after the success of Les Noces : Mozart and Da Ponte wanted to surf on their glory, and chose a subject which had just triumphed in Venice a few weeks earlier, the Don Giovannicomposed by Giuseppe Gazzaniga. Taking up this theme of The Deceiver of Seville, already very present in the theater since the middle of the 17th century, and in particular by the very strong incarnation of it given by Molière, and by the Ballet signed by Gluck in Vienna in 1761, Da Ponte concentrated the work on the libertine character of Don Juan, no doubt inspired by his friend Casanova (who would have helped to modify scene 9 of act 2, and was present at the Prague creation…). The result is dazzling, never leaving the slightest respite to the spectator between murders, scenes of seduction, trickery and fantastic appearances: here is a great show that denotes the musical influence of the best Gluck, of an unprecedented urgency and violence for an opera buffa, served by extraordinary music, an absolute masterpiece, which Prague made an exceptional triumph! The revival in Vienna was less enthusiastic, but the work imposed itself everywhere, and the impressive finale in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent and plunges into the Underworld remains one of the strongest moments of lyrical art.
So here are presented in one go, in three days therefore, and in the order of their composition, the three operas of this famous Trilogy. The characters (and their interpreters) find themselves from one work to another, so much the bonds of love and power run through these three emblematic operas, to the point of imagining that they would have been three acts of a whole. 'exception. This is in any case the choice of Ivan Alexandre and Marc Minkowski, in the malleable decor of trestles and veils designed by Antoine Fontaine for the stage of the Drottningholm Historical Theater and that of the Royal Opera of Versailles. The bet of this "integral" is great for the singers, who must have in mind and in their voices nearly nine hours of music, without being able to rehearse or rest between each evening… The shock team gathered for this project with the Musicians of the Louvre, should bring it to incandescence! And the bet for the spectator is here, of course, to see the three operas in three successive days, to be dazzled more than ever by an absolute concentration of Mozartian genius!!!

Don Giovanni by Mozart, From (2023/2023), Directed by Ivan Alexandre,, Conductor Marc Minkowski, Opéra Royal, Versailles, France

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