"More involving, imaginative and theatrically daring than many full productions,” declared the New York Times after a 2011 performance of Iván Fischer's Don Giovanni. This year offers another encounter with the world's most famous womaniser, with an all new cast performing the most perfect musical work ever written.
In Flaubert's view, "Don Giovanni, Hamlet and the sea were the three finest things God ever made.” Tragedy, comedy and musical study in depth psychology all in one, this timeless tale overflows with eroticism, action and drama, not to mention with characters honed to lifelike precision. Mozart was labouring to reach this degree of perfection right up to the final moments before the première: as legend has it, he locked himself in his room for the night to make sure it would be ready. The librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, himself lived a scandalous life as an inveterate adventurer with countless lovers, making him easily identifiable with the opera's anti-hero protagonist.
Although the opera has been staged innumerable times, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra managed to capture the work in a way that dazzled not only the Hungarian audience, it also had attendees of New York's Mostly Mozart festival riveted from the opening notes. As Seen and Heard International wrote at the time, "This production will stand as a hallmark against which all others will be judged.” To kick off the season, the BFO's music director is staging Mozart's grandiose opera with an all new cast featuring one of the world's most popular Don Giovannis, Christopher Maltman, singing the title role in this now-familiar "staged concert version”.
The 2010 première was a joint production between the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Müpa Budapest.
Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra
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We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
