Yutaka Sado conducts Mozart!
The masterpiece of opera!
The Hyogo Performing Arts Center Opera is the highlight of the summer season at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, which has provided enjoyable operatic experiences to large audiences, including those attending the opera for the first time. The 2023 season will feature the long-awaited performance of Don Giovanni, a masterpiece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte.
This work is based on the legend of Don Juan, a Spanish nobleman said to have captivated numerous women in a life of prodigality that ultimately led him to hell. While the legend long has inspired works of art, the image of Don Giovanni presented in this opera has a special presence all its own. It's a heart-stirring drama depicting the psychology of the lustful Don Giovanni, whose chose damnation over repentance, and the characters around him, with a fast-paced dramaturgy and an exhilarating, beautiful, and at times almost fiendish musical score.
This work features numerous famed pieces of music including the Overture, with its forebodings of hell, Don Giovanni's "Champagne Aria" extolling the virtues of pleasure, the "Catalogue Aria" in which his servant Leporello recounts his master's love life, and the imploring duet "There we will give each other our hands." Conductor Yutaka Sado tactfully holds the audience spellbound from one scene to the next.
W.A.Mozart
（1756‐1791）
L.Da Ponte
（1749‐1838）
What is the ultimate fate of this unconventional villain who brought tears to more than 2000 women’s eyes?
The Spanish nobleman Don Giovanni had relationships with women everyplace he went.
One evening, after slipping into Donna Anna’s mansion, he is found by her father, the Commendatore, whom he later kills in a duel.
After fleeing, he meets his old flame Donna Elvira, but he eludes her and seduces the newlywed bride Zerlina.
Pursued meanwhile by Donna Anna, vowing revenge, and her fiancé Don Ottavio, the incorrigible Don Giovanni continues his life of debauchery.
Then, he hears a certain man’s voice . . .
Stage direction in traditional style, a magnificent scenery, and elegant costumes
This production is directed by David Kneuss, who also worked on Mozart's Così fan Tutte in 2014 and his Le Nozze di Figaro in 2017. Kneuss is a highly experienced director who worked at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Executive Stage Director. Robert Perdziola continues his set and costume design from the last two operas. His set design, characterized by an impressive beauty and scale, always inspires high expectations. To enable contemporary audiences to sense the universality of the work, he is expected to design 20th-century costumes for this performance. Audiences are sure to be captivated by dresses conveying the glamor of the age of high fashion. The teamwork between these two opera experts creates a traditionally beautiful stage with attention to detail.
CAST & STAFF
Message from Yutaka Sado, Artistic Director
This opera series, which marks its 19th year in 2023, produces diverse performances each year, reflecting its vision of communicating the attractions of opera to as many people as possible. Mozart plays an important role in our repertoires. His multifaceted scores, depicting characters full of vitality, truly are impressive, with their awe-inspiring sublimation of the powerful energy intricately involved in the drama of each opera.
Probably what helps Don Giovanni to make such a fresh and vivid impression is the dreadful desire of its main character, which he carries to its ultimate denouement. Another unique point is the appearance of a ghost, which combines with the distinctive characters to complete this ultimate dramatic opera.
Director David Kneuss also exhibited his outstanding abilities in Così fan Tutte and Le Nozze di Figaro. He can be expected once again to communicate the appeal of a great work to the fullest through a mainstream production that brings the essence of the work to the forefront. Don't miss this world-class performance of Don Giovanni, led by singers active on the international stage.
Set design skechs by Robert Perdziola