The Met Streams Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’
Sunday, August 9
Mozart’s Don Giovanni ~ 3 HRS 13 MIN
Starring Hibla Gerzmava, Malin Byström, Serena Malfi, Paul Appleby, Simon Keenlyside, and Adam
Plachetka, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From October 22, 2016.
After the wonderful May 22nd (with
Sutherland & Morris) and July 3rd (with
Kwiecien & Frittoli) streams of this
marvelous opera, you might think that
we’ve had enough Giovanni for a while – but
this cast has some definite winners in spite
of the repeat of its drab and decidedly
unexciting three-story set recreating an
uninterestingly dark 18th-century Seville.
The consummate singing actor, baritone
Simon Keenlyside (we’ve seen him in Don
Carlo and The Tempest, and as a
remarkable Hamlet) smolders dangerously
in the title role of Mozart’s version of the
legend of Don Juan, creating an unusually
dark portrait of the man who believes he is
a law unto himself, and is all the more
dangerous for his eternally seductive allure.
Keenlyside is far more sinister than either
Morris or Kwiecien in this role. Adam
Plachetka is a fine foil as his occasionally
unruly servant Leporello. As you may
remember, Giovanni tangles with Donna
Anna (Hibla Gerzmava) as the opera opens, and things begin to unravel for him – amusingly aided and
abetted by the reappearance in Seville of Donna Elvira (the wonderful, Malin Byström), who is
determined not to let her seducer go free. Paul Appleby as Don Ottavio, Donna Anna’s eternally
steadfast fiancé adds his delightful tenor to the ensemble. Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the
Met Orchestra