Don Giovanni
Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
August 4, 9, 12 2015, Greek Theatre @ 9.30
Direction and Staging: Enrico Castiglione
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata
Festival Euro Mediterraneo Chorus and Symphonic Orchestra
Don Giovanni (complete title “The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni”) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and seducer. Da Ponte’s libretto was billed, like many of its time, as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa. Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.
TICKETS – prices slightly different
Stalls (Parterre) >> Adult: € 108,00 – Under 12: €54,00 – Under 18/Over 65: € 86,40
Gallery >> Adult: € 81,00 – Under 12: €40,50 – Under 18/Over 65: € 64,80
Upper circle (numbered seats) >> Adult: € 59,40 – Under 12: €29,70 – Under 18/Over 65: € 47,50
Upper circle (non-numbered seats) >> Adult: € 32,40 – Under 12: €16,20 – Under 18/Over 65: € 25,90
AUGUST 4, Tuesday >> TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it
AUGUST 9, Sunday >> TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it
AUGUST 12, Wednesday >> TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it
SYNOPSIS
Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast, until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.
Act 1
The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by a short mysterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro.
Scene 1 – The garden of the Commendatore
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s servant, complains of his lot (“Notte e giorno faticar” – “Night and day I slave away”). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni has entered the Commendatore’s house in an attempt to seduce the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna insists on knowing his true identity (Trio: “Non sperar, se non m’uccidi, Ch’io ti lasci fuggir mai!” – “Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!”); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel while Donna Anna flees to seek help. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: “Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!” – “Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!”).
Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni’s palace Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival 2014
Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge (“Ah, chi mi dice mai” – “Ah, who could ever tell me”). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.
Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 (“Madamina, il catalogo è questo” – “My dear lady, this is the catalogue”). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.
Scene 3 – The open country
A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry (“Ho capito! Signor, sì” – “I understand! Yes, my lord!”) but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: “Là ci darem la mano” – “There we will entwine our hands”).
Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction (“Ah, fuggi il traditor” – “Flee from the traitor!”). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna’s father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Giovanni’s help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: “Non ti fidar, o misera” – “Don’t trust him, oh sad one”). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father’s murderer and tells Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Giovanni off after discovering the imposture, leading to the events we have already witnessed (long recitative exchange between Anna and Ottavio, leading to Anna’s aria: “Or sai chi l’onore Rapire a me volse” – “Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour”). Ottavio, not yet convinced (Anna having only recognised Giovanni’s voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend (“Dalla sua pace la mia dipende” – “On her peace my peace depends”).
Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni’s house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni’s “Champagne Aria”: “Fin ch’han dal vino calda la testa” – “Till they are tipsy”). They hasten to his palace.
Scene 4 – A garden outside Don Giovanni’s palace
Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him (“Batti, batti o bel Masetto” – “Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto”), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni’s voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto’s hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master’s party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: “Protegga il giusto cielo” – “May the just heavens protect us”). Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s ballroom
As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.
Act 2
Scene 1 – Outside Elvira’s house
Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: “Eh via buffone” – “Go on, fool”). Wanting to seduce Elvira’s maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: “Ah taci, ingiusto core” – “Ah, be quiet unjust heart”). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Giovanni’s cloak and hat. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. (“Deh vieni alla finestra” – “Ah, come to the window”).
Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (still disguised as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto’s friends (Giovanni aria: “Metà di voi qua vadano” – “Half of you go this way”), Giovanni takes Masetto’s weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto (“Vedrai carino” – “You’ll see, dear one”).
Scene 2 – A dark courtyard
Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: “Sola, sola in buio loco” – “All alone in this dark place”). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: “Ah pietà signori miei” – “Ah, have mercy, my lords”). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is now convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna’s father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance (“Il mio tesoro” – “My treasure” – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[17] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. (“Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata” – “That ungrateful wretch betrayed me”).[18] Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set design for the opera
Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore.
Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello’s girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant’s protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue’s base: “Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me” (Dell’empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: “O, statua gentilissima” – “Oh most noble statue”). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.
Scene 4 – Donna Anna’s room
Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father’s death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful (“Non mi dir” – “Tell me not”). Don Giovanni confronts the stone guest in a painting by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, ca 1830–35 (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg)
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s chambers
Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: “O quanto in sì bel giubilo” from Vicente Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara (1786), “Come un agnello” from Giuseppe Sarti’s Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, “Non più andrai” from Mozart’s own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[19] (Finale “Già la mensa preparata” – “Already the table is prepared”). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. (“L’ultima prova dell’amor mio” – “The final proof of my love”). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the “support and glory of humankind” (sostegno e gloria d’umanità). Hurt and angry, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor cadences from the overture now accompanying the bass voice (“Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m’invitasti” – “Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you”), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.
Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna’s year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.
The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – “Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life” (“Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de’ perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual”). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today’s conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.
Sept. 19-25 – TAOBUK
TAOBUK – Taormina Book Festival
“Gli ultimi muri” – “The last walls”
September 19-25 2015, various location
Download the brochure
Sept. 2/27 – Ballet and Opera
TAORMINA OPERA
Greek Theatre @ 9.30pm
September 2 2015, Wednesday – Carmen Suite – Tickets
Ballet.
September 14 2015, Monday – La Vie en Rose…. Bolero – Tickets
Ballet.
September 15 2015, Tuesday – La Bohème – Tickets
A Antonio De Lucia production, from the Pompei Festival.
September 27 2015, Monday – Stabat Mater – Tickets
TICKETS
Stalls (Parterre): € 88,00
Gallery: € 55,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 45,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 23,00
Aug. 22 and 23 – Il Volo
Il Volo
Taormina Greek Theatre, August 22nd and 23rd 2015
Il Volo (English: The Flight) is an Italian operatic pop trio, consisting of singers: tenors Piero Barone (born 1993) and Ignazio Boschetto (born 1994), and baritone Gianluca Ginoble (born 1995).
The three pop-opera singers started their career in 2009, when they met on the second edition of the Italian RAI TV music competition show Ti lascio una canzone, held at the Ariston Theater in Sanremo. On May 2, 2009, Gianluca Ginoble won the competition, singing Andrea Bocelli’s “Il mare calmo della sera”. During the competition, the three singers were chosen to perform, as a trio, the Neapolitan classic “’O sole mio”. After the competition, they continued to perform together under the names “Tre Tenori”, “The Tryo”, “Il Trio”, and finally in the fall of 2010… “Il Volo” (which translates to “the flight” in Italian).
In 2010 the trio participated in the charity single “We Are the World 25 for Haiti”, a remake of the 1985 hit song “We Are the World”. Il Volo was nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards in Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group with Vocal for Il Volo (Edicion en espanol) and in Best New Artist. In October and early November 2012 Il Volo performed in concert with Barbra Streisand. They sang with her the song “Smile”, and “Make My Garden Grow”, and performed singles “O Sole Mio” and “Un Amore Cosi Grande”. On December 11, 2012 Il Volo performed at the 2012 Nobel Prize Concert in Oslo Norway, with King Harald V in attendance.
TICKETS
Saturday, August 22 >> ticketone.it and boxol.it
Sunday, August 23 >> boxol.it
Ticket Office in Taormina @ Taormina Arte:
Tel. +39 0942 21142
info@taormina-arte.com
Stalls (Parterre): € 69,00
Gallery: € 69,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 51,75
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 34,50
More info on the artists www.ilvolomusic.com
WATCH il Volo
Performing Grande Amore 2015
Performing at the ceremony for the Nobel Awards 2012
Performing O Sole Mio 2011 (the Taormina Greek Theatre in the video!)
Aug. 21 – Ciatu
Ciatu
Taormina Greek Theatre, August 21st 2015
Ciatu is a theatre performance realised by the Neon Theatre Association which was born 25 years ago.
Neon Theatre’s experience includes everyday voices, gestures, bodies, movements, new thoughts and it confirms the possibility, for each person, to realize his own life project beyond the conditions of fragility or disadvantage in which he lives.
Read the complete presentation
More info
www.associazioneculturaleneon.it
www.facebook.com/AssociazioneCulturaleNeon
https://www.facebook.com/events/1623329941213291/
www.youtube.com/channel/UCPjGeUorS1bhmJ00mTYJSIw
www.twitter.com/Neonteatro
www.instagram.com/associazione_culturale_neon
Aug. 15/20 – Opera Stars
Taormina Opera Stars
Greek Theatre @ 9.30pm
APPROXIMATE TICKET’S PRICE
Ticket’s price up to January 6th
Parterre: € 85,00
Gallery: € 65,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 45,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 27,50
Ticket’s price from January 7th on
Parterre: € 105,00 – Reduced Under 18/Over 65: € 85,00 – Reduced Under 12: € 55,00
Gallery: € 80,00 – Reduced Under 18/Over 65: € 65,00 – Reduced Under 12: € 42,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 60,00 – Reduced Under 18/Over 65: € 45,00 – Reduced Under 12: € 30,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 34,50 – Reduced Under 18/Over 65: € 27,50 – Reduced Under 12: € 17,00
August 15 – Beethoven, the 9th Symphony
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
August 16 – “Nabucco” opera by G. Verdi
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
August 17 – L’Italia In Canta
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
August 18 – “Traviata” opera by G. Verdi
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
August 19 – The Rite of Rock
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
August 20 – “Aida” opera by G. Verdi
Box Office – Viva Ticket – Tickettando
More info >> http://taorminaoperastars.it
13-24 Aug – Papotto Exhib.
Exhibition by Luigi Russo Papotto
Taormina, Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano
Opening: 10.00am – 1.00pm / 5.00 – 9.00
Free Entrance
www.facebook.com/russopapotto?ref=br_rs
August 9 – Don Giovanni, Mozart
Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
August 1, 9, 12 2015, Greek Theatre @ 9.30
Direction and Staging: Enrico Castiglione
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata
Festival Euro Mediterraneo Chorus and Symphonic Orchestra
Don Giovanni (complete title “The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni”) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and seducer. Da Ponte’s libretto was billed, like many of its time, as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa. Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.
TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it – prices slightly different
Stalls (Parterre) >> Adult: € 108,00 – Under 12: €54,00 – Under 18/Over 65: € 86,40
Gallery >> Adult: € 81,00 – Under 12: €40,50 – Under 18/Over 65: € 64,80
Upper circle (numbered seats) >> Adult: € 59,40 – Under 12: €29,70 – Under 18/Over 65: € 47,50
Upper circle (non-numbered seats) >> Adult: € 32,40 – Under 12: €16,20 – Under 18/Over 65: € 25,90
AUGUST 9, Sunday >> TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Other date
AUGUST 12, Wednesday >> TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it
SYNOPSIS
Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast, until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.
Act 1
The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by a short mysterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro.
Scene 1 – The garden of the Commendatore
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s servant, complains of his lot (“Notte e giorno faticar” – “Night and day I slave away”). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni has entered the Commendatore’s house in an attempt to seduce the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna insists on knowing his true identity (Trio: “Non sperar, se non m’uccidi, Ch’io ti lasci fuggir mai!” – “Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!”); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel while Donna Anna flees to seek help. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: “Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!” – “Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!”).
Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni’s palace Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival 2014
Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge (“Ah, chi mi dice mai” – “Ah, who could ever tell me”). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.
Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 (“Madamina, il catalogo è questo” – “My dear lady, this is the catalogue”). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.
Scene 3 – The open country
A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry (“Ho capito! Signor, sì” – “I understand! Yes, my lord!”) but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: “Là ci darem la mano” – “There we will entwine our hands”).
Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction (“Ah, fuggi il traditor” – “Flee from the traitor!”). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna’s father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Giovanni’s help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: “Non ti fidar, o misera” – “Don’t trust him, oh sad one”). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father’s murderer and tells Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Giovanni off after discovering the imposture, leading to the events we have already witnessed (long recitative exchange between Anna and Ottavio, leading to Anna’s aria: “Or sai chi l’onore Rapire a me volse” – “Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour”). Ottavio, not yet convinced (Anna having only recognised Giovanni’s voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend (“Dalla sua pace la mia dipende” – “On her peace my peace depends”).
Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni’s house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni’s “Champagne Aria”: “Fin ch’han dal vino calda la testa” – “Till they are tipsy”). They hasten to his palace.
Scene 4 – A garden outside Don Giovanni’s palace
Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him (“Batti, batti o bel Masetto” – “Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto”), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni’s voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto’s hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master’s party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: “Protegga il giusto cielo” – “May the just heavens protect us”). Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s ballroom
As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.
Act 2
Scene 1 – Outside Elvira’s house
Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: “Eh via buffone” – “Go on, fool”). Wanting to seduce Elvira’s maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: “Ah taci, ingiusto core” – “Ah, be quiet unjust heart”). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Giovanni’s cloak and hat. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. (“Deh vieni alla finestra” – “Ah, come to the window”).
Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (still disguised as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto’s friends (Giovanni aria: “Metà di voi qua vadano” – “Half of you go this way”), Giovanni takes Masetto’s weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto (“Vedrai carino” – “You’ll see, dear one”).
Scene 2 – A dark courtyard
Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: “Sola, sola in buio loco” – “All alone in this dark place”). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: “Ah pietà signori miei” – “Ah, have mercy, my lords”). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is now convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna’s father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance (“Il mio tesoro” – “My treasure” – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[17] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. (“Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata” – “That ungrateful wretch betrayed me”).[18] Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set design for the opera
Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore
Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello’s girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant’s protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue’s base: “Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me” (Dell’empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: “O, statua gentilissima” – “Oh most noble statue”). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.
Scene 4 – Donna Anna’s room
Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father’s death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful (“Non mi dir” – “Tell me not”). Don Giovanni confronts the stone guest in a painting by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, ca 1830–35 (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg)
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s chambers
Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: “O quanto in sì bel giubilo” from Vicente Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara (1786), “Come un agnello” from Giuseppe Sarti’s Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, “Non più andrai” from Mozart’s own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[19] (Finale “Già la mensa preparata” – “Already the table is prepared”). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. (“L’ultima prova dell’amor mio” – “The final proof of my love”). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the “support and glory of humankind” (sostegno e gloria d’umanità). Hurt and angry, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor cadences from the overture now accompanying the bass voice (“Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m’invitasti” – “Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you”), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.
Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna’s year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.
The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – “Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life” (“Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de’ perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual”). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today’s conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.
Aug. 8/11/14 – The Barber of Seville
Il Barbiere di Siviglia – The Barber of Seville
Opera by Gioacchino Rossini
August 8, 11, 14 2015, Greek Theatre @ 9.30
Direction and Staging: Enrico Castiglione
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata
Festival Euro Mediterraneo Chorus and Symphonic Orchestra
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution (Italian: Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L’inutile precauzione) is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini’s opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L’inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome. Rossini’s Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all “opere buffe”. Even after two hundred years, its popularity on the modern opera stage attests to that greatness.
Performance history – The premiere of Rossini’s opera was a disastrous failure: the audience hissed and jeered throughout, and several on-stage accidents occurred. However, many of the audience were supporters of one of Rossini’s rivals, Giovanni Paisiello, who played on mob mentality to provoke the rest of the audience to dislike the opera. Paisiello had already composed TheBarber of Seville and took Rossini’s new version to be an affront to his version. In particular, Paisiello and his followers were opposed to the use of basso buffo, which is common in comic opera. The second performance met with quite a different fate, becoming a roaring success.
TICKETS – prices slightly different
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Stalls (Parterre) >> Adult: € 108,00 – Under 12: €54,00 – Under 18/Over 65: € 86,40
Gallery >> Adult: € 81,00 – Under 12: €40,50 – Under 18/Over 65: € 64,80
Upper circle (numbered seats) >> Adult: € 59,40 – Under 12: €29,70 – Under 18/Over 65: € 47,50
Upper circle (non-numbered seats) >> Adult: € 32,40 – Under 12: €16,20 – Under 18/Over 65: € 25,90
SYNOPSIS
Place: Seville, Spain – Time: 18th century
Act 1
The square in front of Bartolo’s house
In a public square outside Bartolo’s house a band of musicians and a poor student named Lindoro are serenading, to no avail, the window of Rosina (“Ecco, ridente in cielo”; “There, laughing in the sky”). Lindoro, who is really the young Count Almaviva in disguise, hopes to make the beautiful Rosina love him for himself—not his money. Almaviva pays off the musicians who then depart, leaving him to brood alone. Rosina is the young ward of the grumpy, elderly Bartolo and she is allowed very little freedom because Bartolo plans to marry her, and her not inconsiderable dowry, himself – once she is of age.
Figaro approaches singing (Aria: “Largo al factotum della città”; “Make way for the factotum of the city”). Since Figaro used to be a servant of the Count, the Count asks him for assistance in helping him meet Rosina, offering him money should he be successful in arranging this. (Duet: “All’idea di quel metallo”; “At the idea of that metal”). Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunken soldier, ordered to be billeted with Bartolo, so as to gain entrance to the house. For this suggestion, Figaro is richly rewarded.
A room in Bartolo’s house with four doors
Knowing the Count only as Lindoro, Rosina writes to him. As she is leaving the room, Bartolo and Basilio enter. Bartolo is suspicious of the Count, and Basilio advises that he be put out of the way by creating false rumours about him (this aria, “La calunnia è un venticello” – “Calumny is a little breeze” – is almost always sung a tone lower than the original D major).
When the two have gone, Rosina and Figaro enter. Figaro asks Rosina to write a few encouraging words to Lindoro, which she has actually already written. (Duet: “Dunque io son…tu non m’inganni?”; “Then I’m the one…you’re not fooling me?”). Although surprised by Bartolo, Rosina manages to fool him, but he remains suspicious. (Aria: “A un dottor della mia sorte”; “To a doctor of my class”).
As Berta, the Bartolo housekeeper, attempts to leave the house, she is met by the Count disguised as an intoxicated soldier. In fear of the drunken man, she rushes to Bartolo for protection and he tries to remove the supposed soldier, but does not succeed. The Count manages to have a quick word with Rosina, whispering that he is Lindoro and passing her a letter. The watching Bartolo is suspicious and demands to know what is in the piece of paper in Rosina’s hands, but she fools him by handing over her laundry list. Bartolo and the Count start arguing and, when Basilio, Figaro and Berta appear, the noise attracts the attention of the Officer of the Watch and his men. Bartolo believes that the Count has been arrested, but Almaviva only has to whisper his name to the officer and is released right away. Bartolo and Basilio are astounded, and Rosina makes fun of them. (Finale: “Fredda ed immobile, come una statua”; “Cold and still, just like a statue”).
Act 2
A room in Bartolo’s house with a piano
Almaviva again appears at the doctor’s house, this time disguised as a singing tutor and pretending to act as substitute for the supposedly ailing Basilio, Rosina’s regular singing teacher. Initially, Bartolo is suspicious, but does allow Almaviva to enter when the Count gives him Rosina’s letter. He describes his plan to discredit Lindoro whom he believes to be one of the Count’s servants, intent on pursuing women for his master. Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo. Bartolo demurs, but Figaro makes such a scene he agrees, but in order not to leave the supposed music master alone with Rosina, the doctor has Figaro shave him right there in the music room. When Basilio suddenly appears, he is bribed by a full purse from Almaviva and persuaded to leave again, with much discussion of how ill he looks. (Quintet: “Don Basilio! – Cosa veggo!”; “Don Basilio! – What do I see?”). Figaro begins to shave Bartolo, but Bartolo overhears the lovers conspiring. He drives everybody away.
The scene returns to the location of act 1 with a grill looking out onto the square
Bartolo orders Basilio to have the notary ready to marry him to Rosina that evening. He also explains his plot to come between the lovers. Basilio leaves and Rosina arrives. Bartolo shows Rosina the letter she wrote to “Lindoro”, and persuades her that this is evidence that Lindoro is merely a flunky of Almaviva. Rosina believes him and agrees to marry him.
The stage remains empty while the music creates a thunder storm to indicate the passage of time. The Count and Figaro climb up a ladder to the balcony and enter the room through a window. Rosina shows Almaviva the letter and expresses her feelings of betrayal and heartbreak.
Almaviva reveals his identity and the two reconcile. While Almaviva and Rosina are enraptured by one another, Figaro keeps urging them to leave. Two people are heard approaching the front door, and attempting to leave by way of the ladder, they realize it has been removed. The two are Basilio and the notary and Basilio is given the choice of accepting a bribe and being a witness or receiving two bullets in the head (an easy choice, he says). He and Figaro witness the signatures to a marriage contract between the Count and Rosina. Bartolo barges in, but is too late. The befuddled Bartolo (who was the one who had removed the ladder) is pacified by being allowed to retain Rosina’s dowry.
Aug. 4/9/12 – Don Giovanni, Mozart
Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
August 4, 9, 12 2015, Greek Theatre @ 9.30
Direction and Staging: Enrico Castiglione
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata
Festival Euro Mediterraneo Chorus and Symphonic Orchestra
Don Giovanni (complete title “The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni”) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and seducer. Da Ponte’s libretto was billed, like many of its time, as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa. Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.
TICKETS – prices slightly different
Stalls (Parterre) >> Adult: € 108,00 – Under 12: €54,00 – Under 18/Over 65: € 86,40
Gallery >> Adult: € 81,00 – Under 12: €40,50 – Under 18/Over 65: € 64,80
Upper circle (numbered seats) >> Adult: € 59,40 – Under 12: €29,70 – Under 18/Over 65: € 47,50
Upper circle (non-numbered seats) >> Adult: € 32,40 – Under 12: €16,20 – Under 18/Over 65: € 25,90
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SYNOPSIS
Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast, until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit.
Act 1
The overture begins with a thundering D minor cadence, followed by a short mysterioso sequence which leads into a light-hearted D major allegro.
Scene 1 – The garden of the Commendatore
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s servant, complains of his lot (“Notte e giorno faticar” – “Night and day I slave away”). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni has entered the Commendatore’s house in an attempt to seduce the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. Don Giovanni enters the garden from inside the house, pursued by Donna Anna. Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna insists on knowing his true identity (Trio: “Non sperar, se non m’uccidi, Ch’io ti lasci fuggir mai!” – “Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!”); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel while Donna Anna flees to seek help. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: “Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!” – “Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!”).
Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni’s palace Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival 2014
Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking revenge (“Ah, chi mi dice mai” – “Ah, who could ever tell me”). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but it turns out he is the former lover she is seeking. The two recognize each other and she reproaches him bitterly. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.
Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth her feelings for him. He is unfaithful to everyone; his conquests include 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 (“Madamina, il catalogo è questo” – “My dear lady, this is the catalogue”). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.
Scene 3 – The open country
A marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry (“Ho capito! Signor, sì” – “I understand! Yes, my lord!”) but is forced to leave. Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: “Là ci darem la mano” – “There we will entwine our hands”).
Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction (“Ah, fuggi il traditor” – “Flee from the traitor!”). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna’s father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to her attacker, pleads for Giovanni’s help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: “Non ti fidar, o misera” – “Don’t trust him, oh sad one”). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father’s murderer and tells Ottavio the story of his intrusion, claiming that she was deceived at first because she was expecting a night visit from Ottavio himself, but managed to fight Giovanni off after discovering the imposture, leading to the events we have already witnessed (long recitative exchange between Anna and Ottavio, leading to Anna’s aria: “Or sai chi l’onore Rapire a me volse” – “Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour”). Ottavio, not yet convinced (Anna having only recognised Giovanni’s voice, not seen his face), resolves to keep an eye on his friend (“Dalla sua pace la mia dipende” – “On her peace my peace depends”).
Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni’s house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni’s “Champagne Aria”: “Fin ch’han dal vino calda la testa” – “Till they are tipsy”). They hasten to his palace.
Scene 4 – A garden outside Don Giovanni’s palace
Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him (“Batti, batti o bel Masetto” – “Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto”), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni’s voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto’s hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both offstage to his ballroom. Three masked guests – the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira – enter the garden. From a balcony, Leporello invites them to his master’s party. They accept the invitation and Leporello leaves the balcony. Alone, Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: “Protegga il giusto cielo” – “May the just heavens protect us”). Luigi Bassi in the title role of Don Giovanni in 1787
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s ballroom
As the merriment, featuring three separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.
Act 2
Scene 1 – Outside Elvira’s house
Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: “Eh via buffone” – “Go on, fool”). Wanting to seduce Elvira’s maid, and believing that she will trust him better if he appears in lower-class clothes, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: “Ah taci, ingiusto core” – “Ah, be quiet unjust heart”). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open wearing Giovanni’s cloak and hat. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her and threatening to kill himself if she does not take him back, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. (“Deh vieni alla finestra” – “Ah, come to the window”).
Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (still disguised as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto’s friends (Giovanni aria: “Metà di voi qua vadano” – “Half of you go this way”), Giovanni takes Masetto’s weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto (“Vedrai carino” – “You’ll see, dear one”).
Scene 2 – A dark courtyard
Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: “Sola, sola in buio loco” – “All alone in this dark place”). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his true identity. He begs for mercy and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: “Ah pietà signori miei” – “Ah, have mercy, my lords”). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is now convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna’s father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance (“Il mio tesoro” – “My treasure” – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[17] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. (“Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata” – “That ungrateful wretch betrayed me”).[18] Graveyard scene of act 2 (Prague, probably 1790s), the earliest known set design for the opera
Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore.
Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello’s girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant’s protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue’s base: “Here am I waiting for revenge against the scoundrel who killed me” (Dell’empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: “O, statua gentilissima” – “Oh most noble statue”). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.
Scene 4 – Donna Anna’s room
Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father’s death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful (“Non mi dir” – “Tell me not”). Don Giovanni confronts the stone guest in a painting by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, ca 1830–35 (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg)
Scene 5 – Don Giovanni’s chambers
Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: “O quanto in sì bel giubilo” from Vicente Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara (1786), “Come un agnello” from Giuseppe Sarti’s Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, “Non più andrai” from Mozart’s own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[19] (Finale “Già la mensa preparata” – “Already the table is prepared”). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. (“L’ultima prova dell’amor mio” – “The final proof of my love”). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the “support and glory of humankind” (sostegno e gloria d’umanità). Hurt and angry, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor cadences from the overture now accompanying the bass voice (“Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m’invitasti” – “Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you”), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue disappears and Don Giovanni cries out in pain and terror as he is surrounded by a chorus of demons, who carry him down to Hell. Leporello, watching from under the table, also cries out in fear.
Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna’s year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.
The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – “Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life” (“Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de’ perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual”). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today’s conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera.
Aug. 1/7/10/13 – Carmen by G. Bizet
Opera by Georges Bizet
July 15 2015 and August 1, 7, 10, 13 2015 – Greek Theatre @ 9.30pm
Direction and Staging: Enrico Castiglione Costumes: Sonia Cammarata Festival Euro Mediterraneo Chorus and Symphonic Orchestra
Carmen is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera, written in the genre of opéra comique, tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery Gypsy, Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen’s love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage.
The music of Carmen has been widely acclaimed for its brilliance of melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for the skill with which Bizet musically represented the emotions and suffering of his characters. After the composer’s death the score was subject to significant amendment, including the introduction of recitative in place of the original dialogue; there is no standard edition of the opera, and different views exist as to what versions best express Bizet’s intentions.
TICKETS on boxol.it and ticketone.it – prices slightly different
Stalls (Parterre) >> Adult: € 108,00 – Under 12: €54,00 – Under 18/Over 65: € 86,40
Gallery >> Adult: € 81,00 – Under 12: €40,50 – Under 18/Over 65: € 64,80
Upper circle (numbered seats) >> Adult: € 59,40 – Under 12: €29,70 – Under 18/Over 65: € 47,50
Upper circle (non-numbered seats) >> Adult: € 32,40 – Under 12: €16,20 – Under 18/Over 65: € 25,90
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SYNOPSIS
Place: Seville, Spain, and surrounding hills – Time: Around 1820
Act 1 – A square, in Seville. On the right, a door to the tobacco factory. At the back, a bridge. On the left, a guardhouse.
A group of soldiers relaxes in the square, waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on the passers-by (“Sur la place, chacun passe”). Micaëla appears, seeking José. Moralès tells her that “José is not yet on duty” and invites her to wait with them. She declines, saying she will return later. José arrives with the new guard, which is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins (“Avec la garde montante”). A lithograph of act 1 in the premiere performance, by Pierre-Auguste Lamy, 1875
As the factory bell rings, the cigarette girls emerge and exchange banter with young men in the crowd (“La cloche a sonné”). Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”). The men plead with her to choose a lover, and after some teasing she throws a flower to Don José, who thus far has been ignoring her but is now annoyed by her insolence.
As the women go back to the factory, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother (“Parle-moi de ma mère!”). He reads that his mother wants him to return home and marry Micaëla, who retreats in shy embarrassment on learning this. Just as José declares that he is ready to heed his mother’s wishes, the women stream from the factory in great agitation. Zuniga, the officer of the guard, learns that Carmen has attacked a woman with a knife. When challenged, Carmen answers with mocking defiance (“Tra la la… Coupe-moi, brûle-moi”); Zuniga orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. Left alone with José, Carmen beguiles him with a seguidilla, in which she sings of a night of dancing and passion with her lover—whoever that may be—in Lillas Pastia’s tavern. Confused yet mesmerised, José agrees to free her hands; as she is led away she pushes her escort to the ground and runs off laughing. José is arrested for dereliction of duty.
Act 2 – Lillas Pastia’s Inn
A month has passed. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès are entertaining Zuniga and other officers (“Les tringles des sistres tintaient”) in Pastia’s inn. Carmen is delighted to learn of José’s release from a month’s detention. Outside, a chorus and procession announces the arrival of the toreador Escamillo (“Vivat, vivat le Toréro”). Invited inside, he introduces himself with the “Toreador Song” (“Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre”) and sets his sights on Carmen, who brushes him aside. Lillas Pastia hustles the crowds and the soldiers away.
When only Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès remain, the smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and reveal their plans to dispose of some recently acquired contraband (“Nous avons en tête une affaire”). Frasquita and Mercédès are keen to help them, but Carmen refuses, since she wishes to wait for José. After the smugglers leave, José arrives. Carmen treats him to a private exotic dance (“Je vais danser en votre honneur … La la la”), but her song is joined by a distant bugle call from the barracks. When José says he must return to duty, she mocks him, and he answers by showing her the flower that she threw to him in the square (“La fleur que tu m’avais jetée”). Unconvinced, Carmen demands he shows his love by leaving with her. José refuses to desert, but as he prepares to depart, Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. He and José fight, and are separated by the returning smugglers, who restrain Zuniga. Having attacked a superior officer, José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers (“Suis-nous à travers la campagne”).
Act 3 – A wild spot in the mountains Magdalena Kožená and Jonas Kaufmann at the Salzburg Festival 2012
Carmen and José enter with the smugglers and their booty (“Écoute, écoute, compagnons”); Carmen has now become bored with José and tells him scornfully that he should go back to his mother. Frasquita and Mercédès amuse themselves by reading their fortunes from the cards; Carmen joins them and finds that the cards are foretelling her death, and José’s. The women depart to suborn the customs officers who are watching the locality. José is placed on guard duty.
Micaëla enters with a guide, seeking José and determined to rescue him from Carmen (“Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante”). On hearing a gunshot she hides in fear; it is José, who has fired at an intruder who proves to be Escamillo. José’s pleasure at meeting the bullfighter turns to anger when Escamillo declares his infatuation with Carmen. The pair fight (“Je suis Escamillo, toréro de Grenade”), but are interrupted by the returning smugglers and girls (“Holà, holà José”). As Escamillo leaves he invites everyone to his next bullfight in Seville. Micaëla is discovered; at first, José will not leave with her despite Carmen’s mockery, but he agrees to go when told that his mother is dying. As he departs, vowing he will return, Escamillo is heard in the distance, singing the toreador’s song.
Act 4 – A square in Seville. At the back, the walls of an ancient amphitheatre
Zuniga, Frasquita and Mercédès are among the crowd awaiting the arrival of the bullfighters (“Les voici ! Voici la quadrille!”). Escamillo enters with Carmen, and they express their mutual love (“Si tu m’aimes, Carmen”). As Escamillo goes into the arena, Frasquita warns Carmen that José is nearby, but Carmen is unafraid and willing to speak to him. Alone, she is confronted by the desperate José (“C’est toi ! C’est moi !”). While he pleads vainly for her to return to him, cheers are heard from the arena. As José makes his last entreaty, Carmen contemptuously throws down the ring he gave her and attempts to enter the arena. He then stabs her, and as Escamillo is acclaimed by the crowds, Carmen dies. José kneels and sings “Ah! Carmen! ma Carmen adorée!”; as the crowd exits the arena, José confesses to killing the woman he loved.