Don Giovanni (1996)

27 April ’96 > 25 May ’96

Info

The maniacal womanizer Don Giovanni has set his sights on the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. However, his attempt at seduction fails, and he flees her house. The Commendatore manages to stop him in his flight and challenges him to a duel. The old man is fatally wounded, and while Don Giovanni flees with his servant Leporello, Donna Anna makes her fiancé Don Ottavio swear to avenge this murder. Yet Don Giovanni cannot resist: he already throws himself at the feet of the next woman, who turns out to be an old acquaintance, Donna Elvira. She also swears revenge.

The number of pursuers is growing. But when Don Giovanni ends up in the cemetery during his flight, his hubris goes too far. He invites the statue of the Commendatore, which has now been erected here, for supper. The statue accepts the invitation. To Leporello’s horror, the statue actually appears at the supper, summoning Don Giovanni to repent. When he continues to refuse this, the image declares that it is definitively too late. Hell awaits Don Giovanni.

Cast

Don Giovanni Robert Poulton
Donna Anna Miranda van Kralingen
Don Ottavio Glenn Winslade
Donna Elvira Anna Maria Panzarella
Leporello Romain Bischoff
Zerlina Manuela Kriscak
Masetto Nanco de Vries
Il Commendatore David Hibbard

Creatives

Director Aidan Lang
Musical direction Marco Zambelli
Set- and costume design Anthony Baker
Light design John Bishop
Choreography Marishka van Loon
Orchestra LSO, Symphonie Orkest van Maastricht
Choir direction Emmanuël Pleijers
Choir Het Zuidelijk Theaterkoor

Media

‘Better a good director than a good conductor’

NRC

Pictures