The opera, to be sung in Italian, will feature a truly international cast. Donna Anna and Masetto will be sung by Austrians, Don Pedro by a Korean, Leporello by a German, Don Ottavio by a Swede, Zerlina by a Brazilian and Donna Elvira by a Swiss singer. In the lead will be the Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, who has gained fame singing roles in Mozart operas around the world.
Mozart?s Don Giovanni, based on the legend of Don Juan, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, premiered in Prague in 1787. The opera was billed as a ?dramma giocoso?, or ?jocular drama?, containing both comic and tragic elements. The work is generally considered to be the finest of the many operas based on the legend of Don Juan. Mozart?s rendering of the tale made such an impression on the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard that he, or one of his pseudonyms, defended the opera in his book Either/Or as the greatest work of art ever made.
The claim could still be made today.
Don Giovanni, directed by Bertrand de Billy, will start at 19:00 on July 26 in the Bartók National Concert Hall at the Palace of Arts.
Don Giovanni - Gerald Finley,
Don Pedro - Attila Jun,
Donna Anna - Regina Schörg
Don Ottavio - Mathias Zachariassen
Donna Elvira - Heidi Brunne
Leporello - Hanno Müller-Brachman
Masetto - Markus Butte
Zerlina - Adriane Queiroz
and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Arnold Schoenberg and Erwin Ortner
Source: Fidelio
