West Australian Opera’s 2018 Season, The Year of the Free Spirit, comes to a stunning conclusion with its October presentation of the timeless Göran Järvefelt production of Mozart’s greatest opera, Don Giovanni.
Based on the legends of master seducer, Don Juan, Don Giovanni tells the story of a promiscuous nobleman who devotes his life to the conquest of the countless woman who take his fancy with never a thought or care for their feelings while revelling in the wider heartbreak and despair he causes.
But, in opera – as in life – there is a price to be paid; and this ultimate Free Spirit confronts his damnation to the fires of Hell with a fierce defiance to the very end.
New Zealand-born opera star, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, will reprise the role of Don Giovanni. His original portrayal of the promiscuous anti-hero in the 2013 WA Opera production was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike and his return will be highly anticipated.
Joining Teddy on stage will be James Clayton as Don Giovanni’s long-suffering and conflicted man-servant, Leporello; Jud Arthur appears as Il Commendatore (both alive and dead) alongside Anita Watson as Il Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna; Jonathan Abernethy is Don Ottavio; Emma Pearson will sing the role of the abandoned Donna Elvira; Wade Kernot is the jealous peasant, Masetto, with Rebecca Bunn as Zerlina, Masetto’s fiancée.
In a first for Perth, Costume and Set Designer, Carl Friedrich Oberle, will be travelling from Germany for this re-staging; so it’s exciting to contemplate that this will be closest to the original production that West Australian Opera has staged.
West Australian Opera Artistic Director, Brad Cohen, will lead the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra in this production which also features the West Australian Opera Chorus. Mozart’s sublime music and dramatic truth tell a vivid tale of seduction, desire, power and freedom in this wonderful production.
Conductor: Brad Cohen Director: Göran Järvefelt Featuring: Teddy Tahu Rhodes, James Clayton, Jud Arthur, Anita Watson, Jonathan Abernethy, Emma Pearson, Rebecca Castellini, West Australian Opera Chorus, West Australian Symphony Orchestra Rehearsal Director: Roger Press Set and Costume Designer: Carl Friedrich Oberle Lighting Designer: Nigel Levings
Don Giovanni
His Majesty’s Theatre, 825 Hay Street, Perth
Season: 20 – 27 October 2018
Information and Bookings: www.waopera.asn.au
Image: Don Giovanni – courtesy of WA Opera