Mario Martone's Reverence for Don Giovanni: A Revival at San Carlo

"I am grateful to Lissner: after 22 years he wanted my Don Giovanni to be proposed again at San Carlo. But the years do not pass in vain, especially when we talk about Don Giovanni". Mario Martone is highly focused on the rehearsals of Mozart's masterpiece which will be on stage from February 16th to 27th, a comic drama in two acts with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. On the podium to conduct the Orchestra del Massimo is Constantin Trinks, Don Giovanni is the Polish Andrzej Filończyk, the Commendatore is Antonio Di Matteo, Donna Anna is Roberta Mantegna, Don Ottavio is Bekhzod Davronon, Donna Elvira is Selene Zanetti, Krzysztof Bączyk plays the role of Leporello, Zerlina is Valentina Naforniţa, Masetto is Pablo Ruiz. Sets and costumes by Sergio Tramonti, lights by Pasquale Mari. "Everything stems from an unforgettable Don Giovanni by Peter Brook, with Claudio Abbado seen in Aix en Provece and wanted by Lissner. There was nothing on stage. Then I realized that you could work freely with the singers", recalls the Neapolitan director who then directed over the years the trilogy composed of 'Cosi fan tutte', 'Nozze di Figaro' and 'Don Giovanni'. Superintendent Lissner highlighted Martone's passionate presence in the theater these days, the great work for a revival that deeply involves the director: "It's an opera that I can't get out of my mind, I really wanted to redo it in Naples. Everything is built on the action of the singers, who are wonderful. The show remains the same, with period costumes and a single scenic element, a platform, but I am modifying something especially in the second act. I want to focus on the female characters in a careful way". "But what opera is Don Giovanni? A very mysterious opera. Da Ponte's libretto is more of a film script than a theatrical text of his time. If Figaro is beautifully punctuated, Don Giovanni escapes everywhere. Ungraspable and also contains the criminal aspect. As in an arena, a court, the male and the female clash. I hope the show speaks, divides on the themes. On Don Giovanni and not only".