Mozart’s opera masterpiece Don Giovanni is coming to the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera at the SNFCC for six performances, from 21 October. This major international GNO co-production with the Gothenburg and Copenhagen opera houses premiered online on GNO TV (Athens) during the 2020/21 Season. Subsequently presented to great success in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2022, the work is set to be presented in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2023. Conducted by Ondrej Olos, the production has been staged by the acclaimed stage director –and former Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera– John Fulljames. Internationally renowned Greek baritone Dionysios Sourbis appears in the title role. This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.
The production is conducted by the internationally acclaimed maestro Ondrej Olos, known to Greek audiences from his previous collaborations with the GNO on the Janáček operas The Cunning Little Vixen and The Makropulos Affair. This all Greek cast is offering us the chance to see and hear both established and emerging GNO soloists. In the title role is the baritone Dionysios Sourbis, and performing alongside him are the sopranos Cellia Costea (Donna Elvira), Myrsini Margariti (Donna Anna), and Miranda Makrynioti (Zerlina), the tenor Vassilis Kavayas (Don Ottavio), the bass Petros Magoulas (The Commendatore), the bass-baritone Yanni Yannissis (Leporello), and the baritone Nikos Kotenidis (Masetto)
Premieres / Don Giovanni was first performed on 29 October 1787 at the Estates Theatre in Prague (renamed for a time as the Tyl Theatre), a venue affiliated with the National Theatre from 1948. For the opera’s Viennese premiere (7 May 1788), Mozart adapted the score for the new singers, composing new pieces for certain roles and removing other sections. Don Giovanni entered the repertoire of the Greek National Opera on 30 March 1962, with a production conducted by Antiochos Evangelatos that showcased Kostas Paskalis in the title role. This new GNO co-production presents the original Prague version of the opera.
