Don Giovanni, opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte) during the period of Western classical, was composed in 1787. It was a big success for its premiere at the original National Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787, and was recognized as one of the greatest of all operas ever held in Prague. The Shanghai Opera House once produced a concert version and received warm responses. In the 2024 season, the stage version, under the collaboration between the Shanghai Opera House and the CSIAF Orchestra, will be held at the Shangyin Opera House during the Shanghai International Arts Festival. When the time comes, conductor Xu Zhong, also president of the Shanghai Opera House, will lead the orchestra to present Don Giovanni in a novel and unique manner.

Synopsis

Don Giovanni, a young nobelman from Seville, is a legendary libertine and seducer. Late one evening, outside the Commendatore's palace, Giovanni tries to seduce Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. Her father, the Commendatore, believing his daughter to be in distress, challenges Giovanni to fight. In the scuffle that follows, Giovanni kills him. Anna flees the scene and shortly after returns with her fiancé Don Ottavio. She makes Ottavio swear to avenge her father’s death. The following morning, Giovanni and his servant Leporello come across a distressed woman. She turns out to be Donna Elvira, who has come from a nearby town determined to find Giovanni. He had married her there, but then abandoned her. Giovanni escapes from Elvira, leaving Leporello to recount to her Giovanni’s extraordinary catalogue of conquests. A little while later, at Zerlina and Masetto’s wedding, Giovanni is about to make off with the bride, when Elvira intercepts him, telling Zerlina to stay away from the womanizer. Meanwhile, Anna tells Ottavio that she has recognised Giovanni as the Commendatore’s murderer. In Giovanni's castle, the wedding celebration for Zerlina and Masetto is underway. Anna, Ottavio and Elvira appear; they are wearing masks to disguise their identities, trying to denounce Giovanni for his crimes. In the meantime, Leporello meets Giovanni in the graveyard. Giovanni points out a statue of the Commendatore, and orders Leporello to invite the statue to dinner. When returning to Giovanni’s dining room, Elvira makes a final attempt and asks him to change his lifestyle but he refuses. Angrily, she leaves. Moments later, Leporello screams and runs back, telling Giovanni that the statue has arrived for dinner. The statue asks Giovanni to repent for his sins, but Giovanni refuses. Then, with a great flash, the earth opens up beneath their feet and the statue pulls Giovanni with him to Hell.

Conductor:Xu Zhong
Director/Set Designer/Multimedia Designer: Yang Jingze
Custume Designer: Maria Carla Ricotti
Light Designer:Liu Shenhui
Vocal Coach: Alessandro Amoretti

Don Giovanni : Luca Pisaroni /Zhang Yang
Leporello : Adriano Gramigni / Yu Yang
Donna Anna : Elisa Verzier / Xu Xiaoying
ll Commendatore : Rubén Amoretti
Don Ottavio : Juan de Dios Mateos / Cai Chengyu
Donna Elvira : Monica Zanettin/Wang Bailing
Zerlina : Claire Coolen/Xiong Yufei
Masetto :Huang Junpeng

Chorus Shanghai Opera House
Orchestra The China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF) Orchestra