Show artwork for Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni Don Giovanni

Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Conducted by James Conlon

January 30 – February 21, 2021

Production New to Los Angeles

At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

He's smooth. He's rotten. He's doomed.

All six performances of Don Giovanni (Jan 30-Feb 21) have been cancelled due to an LA County mandate as part of the effort to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

If you have already purchased tickets to this performance, the amount paid for your tickets will automatically be placed on your LA Opera account. Have questions or need assistance with your tickets?  Please contact the Box Office at customerservice@laopera.org or 213.972.8001 Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm. 

We look forward to returning to the stage in September 2021 for our new 2021/22 Season

 

A trail of unhappy women, a spur-of-the-moment murder, a dozen fleet-footed escapes, and one ominous force from beyond the grave that can’t be stopped. Yep, sounds like Don Giovanni (aka Don Juan).

Superstar bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo returns as opera’s most notorious playboy in a visually spectacular production that pulls you into the characters’ inner thoughts and shifting emotions. And with James Conlon conducting this Mozart masterpiece and a stunning new production featuring scenery by Es Devlin (star designer of concerts for U2, Kanye West, and Beyoncé), you know it's going to be good.

 

“Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is a commanding presence... his mature, velvety tone suitably aristocratic with flashes of suavity and menace.”

BBC

Read the synopsis

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Synopsis

Act One
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s disgruntled servant, stands guard while his masked master pursues Donna Anna indoors. Answering her cries for help, Anna’s father, the Commendatore, challenges Giovanni to a duel. The Don easily kills the old man and escapes, unrecognized, into the night. Anna and her fiancé Ottavio swear to avenge her father’s death.

Giovanni and Leporello encounter a mysterious beauty who turns out to be Donna Elvira, a noblewoman whom the libertine had previously seduced and abandoned. Giovanni makes a hasty getaway while Leporello distracts Elvira with a list of his master’s conquests.
Giovanni’s wandering eye settles next on the peasant girl Zerlina, so he tries to separate her from her betrothed, Masetto. Just as the Don persuades Zerlina to run away with him, Elvira intervenes and convinces her to resist. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio enter, asking Giovanni to help find her father's murderer. Elvira returns and tries with some success to arouse their suspicions against him. After he leaves, Anna remembers her attacker’s voice and realizes that Giovanni was her masked assailant. She passionately urges Ottavio to act on his vow of vengeance.

Still determined to have his way with Zerlina, Giovanni arranges a ball in honor of Zerlina and Masetto. Masetto berates her for her flirtation with the Don. She attempts to mollify him, but once Giovanni returns, Zerlina’s resolve grows weak. She is only able to resist because Masetto is near. Anna, Elvira and Ottavio have now joined forces against Giovanni, and arrive at the ball wearing masks; Leporello invites them to join the revelers. A call for help from Zerlina interrupts the party. The maskers rush to rescue her. Giovanni insists that it is Leporello who is guilty, but the others know better. They warn the Don that a storm of vengeance will soon rage around him, but Giovanni mockingly defies them.

Act Two
Fed up, Leporello threatens to quit. Giovanni refuses to give up womanizing, but bribes his servant to stay. Elvira’s maid is the target of the day, and Giovanni switches clothes with Leporello to serenade the maid. Masetto arrives with a band of peasants hoping to kill Giovanni. Still disguised as Leporello, the Don encourages the peasants to split up for their search. He takes Masetto aside; once the others are out of earshot, Giovanni beats Masetto and leaves.

Meanwhile, Leporello, still wearing Giovanni’s cloak and hat, tries to elude Elvira. Anna, Ottavio, Masetto and Zerlina block his exit and, thinking they've caught Giovanni, threaten to kill the reprobate. Leporello reveals himself, begs for mercy, and rushes away. Elvira expresses dismay over Giovanni’s actions.

Leporello rejoins his master in a graveyard dominated by a statue of the fallen Commendatore. As Giovanni boisterously describes his escapades, a voice from the statue interrupts and warns the scoundrel that his laughter will be silenced by morning. To Leporello’s horror, Giovanni laughs and orders his servant to invite the statue to dinner that evening.

Ottavio tries to discuss marriage with Anna, but she says she cannot think of it in her sorrow.

Don Giovanni is sitting down to dinner when Elvira storms in and begs him to return to her. Indifferent, Giovanni demands that she leave. She runs away at the moment that the statue of the Commendatore arrives, just as invited. When Giovanni refuses to repent for his misdeeds, the Commendatore drags him to hell. The others rush in, and Leporello tells them what has happened. The libertine has received his just punishment.

Production new to Los Angeles

Performed in Italian with English subtitles

A co-production of Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and the Israeli Opera

Running time approx: 3 hours, 15 minutes, with one intermission

Artwork for Don Giovanni
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Spring 2021 Season