Don Giovanni description
The impulsive, charismatic Don Giovanni is a serial seducer, accompanied by his long-suffering servant Leporello. But when Don Giovanni commits murder, he unleashes a dark power beyond his control.
Don Giovanni continues to seduce and betray with his usual rapacity. Haunted by the ghost of the murdered man, he decides to invite him to dinner. The ghost urges him to repent – but Don Giovanni refuses.
Don Giovanni is the second of Mozart’s landmark collaborations with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte (after The Marriage of Figaro and before Così fan tutte). In it they created a work that has beguiled and entranced in equal measure since its premiere in 1787. Perfectly situated, as no other opera, between tragedy and comedy, this potent drama combines glorious music with a seductive central character who is endlessly fascinating in his complexity.
Kasper Holten’s 2014 production for The Royal Opera casts Don Giovanni as an artist who thrives on an audience enticed by his creative gifts. Ink blots splatter across the visually spectacular set by award-winning designer Es Devlin, with ingenious video designs by Luke Halls. But at the production’s heart are the beauty and invention of Mozart’s dazzling score.
Playing at Royal Opera House
Important information
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.