Don Giovanni
W. A. Mozart
The myth of the seducer of women Don Juan (or in this case Don Giovanni) belongs to the world history of literature. This type of man is regarded as the personification of the instinctive libertine who disregards both the social order and divine laws and who ultimately despises the women whom he oppresses countlessly and arbitrarily.
W. A. Mozart’s (1756-1791) ingenious librettist Lorenzo da Ponte was also taken with this demonic figure of the eternal seducer, to whom the composer left the choice of the theme. After the triumphant success of “Le nozze di Figaro”, he was to write a new opera for the usual fee of one hundred ducats at the imperial request. Mozart’s entire creative power flowed into “Don Giovanni” and left the world of opera with music of supernatural beauty, alternating between cheerful opera buffa and great tragedy. They are striking for their rapid changes and sharp contrasts: sweet love arias alternate with dark passages that emanate a sense of death. In addition to the lascivious figure of the protagonist Don Giovanni and the comic figure of his servant Leporello, the two female characters Donna Anna and Donna Elvira symbolize great humanity, while the commander, who finally dissolves the drama, symbolizes the higher forces.
Through the unique fusion of these highly inhomogeneous elements, Mozart’s masterpiece is rightly considered one of the most perfect operas ever. Entertaining side note: Giacomo Casanova, Italian gallant and bon vivant par excellence, attended the premiere in Prague in 1787.
Don Giovanni♪, W. A. Mozart
, the 31.
Marc Minkowski
French conductor Marc Minkowski was born on October 4, 1962 in Paris. His passion for music began when he was a college student at the Ecole Alsacienne. In 1979, even before his majority, Marc Minkowski joined the Lille orchestra under the direction of Jean-Claude Casadesus. Marc Minkowski performed very quickly in many orchestras, in particular among pioneer ensembles of the Baroque revival such as Les Arts Florissants or the Clemencic Consort in Vienna. Marc Minkowski quickly took an interest in conducting, which he studied in the United States at the Pierre Monteux Conducting School. At only nineteen, Marc Minkowski founded Les Musiciens du Louvre, an ensemble which took an active part in the Baroque revival, before broadening its repertoire by approaching works by Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach Wagner and many others. Marc Minkowski has been director of the Opéra national de Bordeaux since September 2016, his contract is extended until August 2022.
Marc Minkowski♪ - Vincent Huguet
Jeanine De Bique, Gabriela Scherer, Regina Koncz, Lucio Gallo, Riccardo Fassi, Bogdan Volkov
Staatsoper Unter den Linden
La Khovanchtchina, M. P. Moussorgsky
, the 2.Simone Young - Claus Guth
Marina Prudenskaya, Evelin Novak, Anna Samuil, Mika Kares, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, Stephan Rügamer
Staatsoper Unter den Linden