Tony-winning director Ivo van Hove (A View from the Bridge) made his Met Opera debut May 5 with a new production of Don Giovanni —and the reviews are in!
The opera by Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte is based on the Don Juan legend, and follows the infamous Don through the final hours of his life, up to the moment his criminal past finally catches up with him in a scene of supernatural justice.
Starring as Don Giovanni is baritone Peter Mattei, who considered one of today's foremost interpreters of the role. The premiere of this production marks his 37th performance of the role the Met since 2003. Sopranos Ana María Martínez, Federica Lombardi, and Ying Fang play, respectively, Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, and Zerlina, the three women who band together in vengeance against the Don. This is the third Mozart opera Fang and Lombardi have sung together at the Met, after acclaimed performances in Idomeneo this past fall, and Le Nozze di Figaro last season.
Read the reviews here.
The Financial Times (Clemency Burton-Hill)
New York Classical Review (George Grella)
The New York Times (Zachary Woolfe)*
*This review requires creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Rounding out the cast are tenor Ben Bliss and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Don Ottavio and Masetto, the fiancés respectively of Donna Anna and Zerlina. Adam Plachetka plays Don Giovanni's servant Leporello, and Alexander Tsymbalyuk plays Donna Anna's father the Commendatore, whose murder at Don Giovanni's hands sets the action of the opera in motion. Conductor Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut with this production.
Ivo van Hove's production includes scenic and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld, costume design by An D’Huys, and projection design by Christopher Ash, all making their Met debuts. The creative team also includes choreographer Sara Erde.
Performances of Don Giovanni run through June 2. Starting May 27, Dmitry Belosselskiy joins the cast as the Commendatore. Andrea Carroll makes her Met debut as Zerlina in the June 2 performance.
The Met will wrap up its 2022-23 season with a new production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, directed by Simon McBurney, opening May 19. Nathalie Stutzmann will also conduct this production. Revivals of Puccini's La Bohème and Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer round out the lineup in the final stretch of the season. Ivo van Hove will return to the Met in the fall, to open the 2023-24 season with the Met premiere of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking.
