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Schedule - Deutsche Oper Berlin

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Don Giovanni

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

11
Wednesday
September
19:00 - 22:30
B prices: € 92.00 / 72.00 / 52.00 / 32.00 / 24.00
Information about the work

Dramma giocoso in two acts
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte; First performed on 29th October, 1787 at Prague
Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 16th October, 2010

3 hrs 30 mins / 1 interval

In Italian language with German and English surtitles

Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance

Recommended from 16 years
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Cast
11
Wednesday
September
19:00 - 22:30
B prices: € 92.00 / 72.00 / 52.00 / 32.00 / 24.00
Cast
the content

About the work
In their second collaboration after LE NOZZE DI FIGARO Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte drew on the Spanish legend of Don Juan. Earlier popularity aside, the protagonist only attained the mythical dimensions of a heroic archetype in Mozart’s operatic version, which went on to inspire countless reimaginings of the material and philosophical readings by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Søren Kierkegaard et al. A raft of musical pieces from DON GIOVANNI, ranging from arias and the famous overture to duets, trios and ensembles, have seared themselves into our collective awareness.

The opera takes up the story when Don Giovanni’s career as womanizer is already far advanced: his valet, Leporello, puts the number of conquests in Spain alone at 1,003. Yet the Don’s compulsion shows no sign of abating, even though – or because - there is risk in each added attempt. Caught in flagranti with Donna Anna, he kills her father in a duel and flees, pursued by Anna, her fiancé Don Ottavio and his ex-lover Donna Elvira. The next object of his lust is Zerlina, whom he hopes to ravish under the nose of her prospective husband, Masetto, on their wedding day. The peripatetic rake repeatedly provokes the people around him and his own fate, as if wishing to hasten the inevitable.

About the production
Mozart fuses sobering and light-hearted elements and comedy with tragedy in a “Dramma giocoso” that E. T. A. Hoffmann called the “opera to end all operas”. And Don Giovanni is unquestionably the seducer par excellence. Since Tirso de Molina penned his original 17th-century play, countless works of literature and theatre have devoted themselves to his amorous escapades. But who really is Don Juan? Director Roland Schwab sets out to find the Don Giovanni of modern-day Berlin. What can still raise a pulse, with every woman already a notch on the bedpost and every evening partied away? Is it the orgies that line up ahead of the burnt-out libertine that possibly represent the real Hell?

The production takes an existentialist approach, analysing the emotional state of the eponymous hero and painting him as ravaged by his decadent lifestyle. Aided and abetted by Leporello, his valet, who relishes his boss’s perfidy, Don Giovanni submits to the temptations around him – deploying a superior sex appeal, a detached, domineering style or frenzied violence. As the hellish excesses take on a Sisyphean quality, the obsessed antihero resorts to meditation as a coping mechanism, condemned to rage forever against the abstract backdrop of set designer Piero Vinciguerra.

Our articles on the subject

„Don Giovanni“ – The Synopsis
Dr Takt on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's: „Don Giovanni“, Overture, bars 23-26
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03
DEC

Adventskalender in der Tischlerei: Das 3. Fensterchen

Today in the Tischlerei: ‘Christmas Carols’
with Thomas Cilluffo (tenor) and Chris Reynolds (piano)
5:00 p.m. / Tischlerei
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / Free admission


In the 1940s, a new era of Christmas songs began in the United States: hits like ‘White Christmas’, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and ‘Let it snow!’ succeeded in translating the contemplative Advent mood into a popular style that suited the modern lifestyle. Today, they have established themselves as classics that are an integral part of the Christmas season. The tenor Thomas Cilluffo presents some of these world-famous melodies, along with classic Christmas songs from different countries and eras. Our solo repetiteur Chris Reynolds accompanies him on the grand piano.

During the 2022/23 season, Cilluffo made his European debut at both the Teatro Regio Torino and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he initially enriched the ensemble as a scholarship holder of the Opera Foundation New York. He has been a member of the ensemble here at the house since the 2024/25 season and has appeared in roles such as The Mouth that Speaks Great Words / ANTICRUST, Count Elemer / ARABELLA, Fatty / THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY , Pong / TURANDOT, Malcolm / MACBETH, Arturo / LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Monostatos / DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE or as a guest in the big New Year's Concert of the BigBand ‘Swingin’25’.
In recent years, Thomas Cilluffo has been highly successful in prestigious competitions, winning first place in the Premiere Opera Foundation International Singing Competition in 2022, among others. He was a finalist in the George London Foundation Competition in 2022, the Gerda Lissner Opera Competition in 2022 and the Gerda Lissner Song Competition in 2021. His roles also include Belfiore / LA FINTA GIARDINIERA , Almaviva / IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Spoletta / TOSCA, the Witch / HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, Adolfo Pirelli / SWEENEY TODD, Don Ottavio / DON GIOVANNI, Puck / A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and the title role in ROMÉO ET JULIETTE at opera houses such as Portland Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Opera Colorado. Thomas Cilluffo received his BM/MM from the University of Michigan, where he studied with tenor George Shirley.