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Anti-hero Don Giovanni springs into mischief and a heap of trouble in Livermore Valley Opera’s upcoming production of his namesake opera.
Set to run during the next two weekends, audiences can tag along for a mix of tragedy and comedy during four performances of “Don Giovanni” at the Bankhead Theater.
Featuring music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the opera is considered among the greatest of all time, LVOpera’s artistic director Erie Mills said in a statement.
All shows will be sung in Italian with English supertitles and accompanied by the LVOpera Orchestra, conducted by music director Alexander Katsman.
“The music is sublime and the characters are complex and intriguing,” Mills said. “There is never a dull moment musically or dramatically.”
During the opera, Don Giovanni aims to seduce Donna Anna, but kills her dad during a duel instead. Over the next 24 hours he attempts to evade all responsibility for the murder and his persistent womanizing. Eventually Don Giovanni faces punishment for his pursuit of power, relations with women and disrespect for all those around him.
“You can’t get by in life being a bully, being a misogynist,” LVOpera stage director Robert Herriot said of the moral of the opera. “It’s an interesting story for the time because it shows us that you can’t act like a monster and get away with it.”
Behind the characters are a stellar cast of singing actors, Mills said.
The performers include baritone Titus Muzi III as Don Giovanni, bass-baritone Samuel Weiser as Don Giovanni’s servant Leporello, soprano Meryl Dominguez as Donna Anna, soprano Cara Gabrielson as Donna Elvira, tenor David Walton as Don Ottavio, soprano Phoebe Chee as Zerlina, bass-baritone Joseph Calzada as Masetto and bass Kirk Eichelberger Il as Commendatore.
Taking a closer look at the characters, Don Giovanni is akin to the center of a wagon wheel given his lack of personal development, Muzi explained. Meanwhile, the characters around him grow through their own heroes’ journey.
One of those who withstands tragedy and evolves throughout the story is Donna Anna.
“How do people deal with trauma and how do people deal with continuing their life after trauma?” Dominguez said. “(That) is the story of Donna Anna.”
“These characters are extremely complex and have their own interesting psychologies,” Herriot added. “How they interact with one another and what the result is is an amazing journey — sometimes you don’t get that in opera.”
As part of LVOpera’s 33rd season, performances of “Don Giovanni” are scheduled for the next two Saturdays and Sundays (March 1-2, 8-9), each followed by a customary artist reception in the Bankhead lobby.
Tickets are available at LVOpera.com. Included with purchase is a pre-performance talk held one hour prior to curtain-time.
LVOpera is also celebrating the opening night with a four-course at Uncle Yu’s at the Vineyard in downtown Livermore. The welcome reception is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday (March 1), followed by dinner seating at 4:30 p.m. All dishes will be paired with award-winning wines from sponsor Cuda Ridge Wines. Tickets for the dinner are sold separately from the performance and available at livermorearts.org.
Also scheduled for opening night is a performance of musical numbers by students from the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra, including some tunes from “Guys and Dolls”. The pre-opera performance is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Bankhead lobby.
