Mozart’s Don Giovanni , in its acclaimed version by director Damiano Michieletto, is back at the Fenice Theatre with nine runs from May 16 to May 25. Robert Treviño will conduct the resident orchestra and choir. The two-act playful drama debuted in Prague on October 29, 1787, and enjoyed great success soon. Don Giovanni, or Don Juan, is a knight and a cad – he stops at nothing to seduce women, and will resort to treachery and lies. His servant, Leporello, goes along with Giovanni’s machinations, while poor Elvira, once seduced and abandoned, still prays for his redemption. Anna, instead, plots revenge: Giovanni tried to take her against her will, and even killed her father before he goes on to further lying and further scheming. Unrepented, Giovanni refuses to change his ways, until demons carry him into the underworld. Damiano Michieletto set the scene in a late eighteenth-century stately home, largely run down. Dim lights cast long shadows.

A circular outfit commands a seemingly eternal motion that feel anxious, almost oppressive. A world dominated by violence and psychological torture and decadent values. Don Giovanni is the vital force of the whole story in his feeding off the energy of the other characters. “You can never quite frame the Don Giovanni – says Michieletto – when you try to do that, you are limiting it. I worked on my version based on Don Giovanni’s psychological traits that excited me, starting with Leporello’s song at the beginning of the opera. In the terse fashion that is often the forte of simple characters, Leporello seems to be talking about himself when commenting: Night and day I slave / for one who does not appreciate it, but in fact, he is saying something about the titular rake: Don Giovanni is a person who cannot appreciate anything, and will never find someone to appease his lust. He won’t marvel at anything, or be touched either, for any emotion would only slow him down…”.

Featured image: Michele Crosera